Shirley Jackson’s short stories The Lottery and The Summer People have many similarities. One of those similarities is the idea of mans inhumanity to man, which is prominent in both the short stories. The Lottery is the story of a village that takes part in the sacrifice of one of their neighbors. The Summer People, also set in a small village, follows the story of a group of villager’s who will go to any lengths to exclude two new members of their community. Both stories teach us about mans inhumanity to man.

Learning about mans inhumanity to man is important in The Summer People and The Lottery because we see that the characters in each of the stories are willing to be inhumane in order to be accepted. In The Summer People Mrs. Martin, a “new comer” in the town, learns that Mr. and Mrs. Allison are staying on at the lake. As Mrs. Martin is new to the town she has probably been treated badly herself and realizes what will happen to the Allison’s but she does not stand up for them as she wants to be accepted in the town. She tells the Allison’s “I don’t guess anyone’s ever stayed so long before”. This shows that she feels hesitant about taking part in what will happen and almost wants to warn the Allison’s about what is going to happen but doesn’t because she wants to feel as if she is accepted in town. In The Lottery we also see this in Mrs. Hutchinson. The day of the lottery in the town is a very important day and not one someone would easily forget, but when Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late to the lottery she says “clean forgot what day it was” and then makes excuses for being late. The reader however gets the impression that Mrs. Hutchinson didn’t really want to go. This shows that Mrs. Hutchinson didn’t agree with what was happening but in the end reformed to what everyone else was doing because she wanted to be accepted. Jackson is teaching us that