The Lottery: Explanation PART 2!!! :)

Hi!

First of all, thank you everyone for your constructive and useful comments and feedback on comments. This sparked of new thoughts in my head and I realised that the Lottery is not just what I first thought it was. The story had a deeper meaning and a deeper depth of understanding to it.

When Shirley Jackson wrote the story, she received alot of hate mail from the readers. So much hate mail that the post office had to send to her a huge package filled with them at the end of the week. However, Shirley Jackson still kept numb. This meant that she had expected this long before she even started writing the story. But why did she still continue doing so and made it published?

The story is like a mystery. It is hiding a simple yet craftly hidden meaning under all that rich description of the setting and suspenseful elaboration of tje plot. However, it is hard to uncover that meaning. First of all, we have to see what the themes of the story is associated with. To put it simply, they are RITUALS and TRADITIONS. Some presume that it is simply superstition. But is that a good word to use? Every religion, race and culture has their own thoughts of what ritual or tradition is superstitious so "superstition" cannot be associated with the story.

Let me elaborate. I'm sure all of you know how RITUALS and TRADITIONS are connected to the story. And I'm also very sure that you all heard my story on the bread and wine turning into real flesh and blood in class today. Being a Catholic, my cathecism teachers have told me various stories like the one above. I went onto Youtube searching for the video footage of another story related to this but unfortunately I can't find it. Sorry. But anyway, coming back to the main theme of the story. These stories just prove the fact that the traditions and rituals of various religions are very different and complex in many many ways.

The main point which I think that Shirley Jackson is trying to drive at is the fact that rituals can be deadly and can be very hard to understand. It's exactly the same way like how we don't understand the Aztecs sacrificing human hearts during the peak of their goldenage and also to make it easier for everyone to understand, how a friend that you don't like act. Human behaviour and the way you think is too complex to understand. One can do things that one don't expect to do and one can be influenced by the people around him, the society and the traditions of a culture. It's just like how the villagers in The Lottery have been influenced by their ancestors that stoning the people to death would result in a good harvest. The influence have been passed on generation after generation and in the end, people just follow the society that they have been brought up in and they think that it is right.

Wow... I didn't expect myself to write that much... Please, please write your comments below! I'm looking forward to reading them! Thanks! Please come and view my own blog too! Here's the website: hcimemories.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Raphael :D

And anybody don't want to go and watch Animal Farm? I'm always the next available option! I have been waiting for the consent form enthusiastically for 3 weeks! But sadly, luck wasn't on my side today. So anybody???


Just for Fun... P.S.The reason why everyone seem to write better on the internet...

The reason why everyone seem to write better on the internet is mainly due to two points. Number 1 is that people who are shy and don't like to talk in front of everyone in class would not want to share their views openly and verbally during class. Therefore, they make use of their blogs to share them as they don't need to say them out verbally. The second reason is that people prefer using computers. Technology has been advancing... Wow. Technology is taking over to world! :):D:P