Analysis Of The Film And Short Story "The Lottery" By Shirley Jackson
Not one human being was born with evil intentions. Most of us are born to obey our family’s traditions, whether good or bad. Some of us have the choice to break the tradition or we are forced into it. That was the case for a small town of about 300 people. In order for you to live in this town, you have to follow their dark tradition, known as The Lottery. Every June 27th, the whole town gathers up ran by the mayor, Mr. Summers. The mayor calls each chief of the household forward to a box, where they select a piece of paper. Once the men have chosen. Summers allows everyone to open the paper and see who’s been selected. The prize is what makes this tradition inhumane. Whoever ‘wins’, gets stoned.
There are many differences between the short story written by Chis Abani, and the movie. The story dosen’t really have any connections with any characters like the film. In the film, Jason falls in love with Felice Dunbar, who later on betrays Jason at the end of the movie. In both the story and the film, the woman is the victim in the harsh consequence of the tradition. In the film, after the stoning, her body is covered with a lace cloth, and Jason says “God help you” to the people. In the short story, they say, “God is reasonable’’. In the film, Jason is stopped by the sheriffs of the town, who chase him into the woods. Jason fights with the deputy and kills him. He escapes and tries to explain to the people what he witnessed. The film extends beyond what happens in the story because there’s a different outcome. In the story, the main character does not escape from New Hope. The story ends with the victim being stoned. She was killed, and no one had a problem with it. In the film, the ending is outside law enforcement not believing Jason. Felice is unwilling to back up his story and admit what happened. She lies and tells the police that her mother died of a stroke. Jason ends up imprisoned and refues to speak to a psychiatrist.
The short story may have something to do with the author’s past. In a sense with unfair justice. A group of people not using any legal process when decding the innonence of a man. The accuser would face the consequences regardless of him being innocent or guilty. No trial of the man accused, and if the group wanted you dead, well you’re in no luck. The author wrote The Lottery as a metaphorical way of showing how someone can be innocent, but then rumours can start, and eventually it would be portayed as the truth. People can be so passionate about their tradition, because that’s how they were raised. We are the most vulnerable as children. Whatever we are shown and taught as kids, we are going to believe and live the way we were educated.
