Societal Corruption in “The Lottery” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Societal corruption is found in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor. As illustrated in both short stories, societal corruption can take place in different forms. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary has one meaning for the word “corruption”: “impairment of integrity, virtue or moral principle”. In the “Lottery” capitalist society stands out as a form of societal corruption. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the simple ways and acts of the grandmother alone relative to her religious practices stands out as social corruption. “The Lottery”, is a horrific story that exposes the social order and system of a capitalistic society. Again, from Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the ideal capitalistic society is “an economic system based upon the concentration of wealth, and the competitive distribution of production and business to privately owned powerful representatives.” This form of an ideal society is what the author based the small village on in “The Lottery”. In “The Lottery” the lottery itself, serves as a democratic misconception for a capitalistic society. It deceives the people of the village, into believing it is democratic, because of the fact that everyone participates in the lottery and knows they have an equal chance at being selected. The village’s ruling class only participates to convince others that they are equal to everyone else, even though their exclusive control over the lottery suggests they are not. Another aspect of “The Lottery” that shows an ideally capitalistic society and that becomes one huge aspect in the social order of the village is the role of women. The author has made it clear that power in the village in the hands of the husbands as the heads of families and households. Women are considered inferior in statute and must surrender to the power of their husbands. The women have no voice because the husband or male head of the household, speaks for the entire family. This inferiority is placed on the women because they are just housewives and have no source for income, which is the main purpose in a capitalistic society—to make money. One example of the women’s inferior position in the village is when they make their first appearance, “wearing faded house dresses and sweaters… [and walking] shortly after their menfolk” (268, parag. 3). The description of their dresses alone, shows they work as housewives and, therefore, suggests that because, they are not making money to provide for their families in this ideology of a capitalistic society, they are automatically inferior to the men. Also, the fact that they are walking behind their husband, may mean that women being one step in power behind the male. “The Lottery” is an example of the beliefs that a capitalistic society would impose on a small village. The surviving people of the village must accept this fate without question or resistance, in fear that they might be selected next. Shirley Jackson conveys original thinking, which could lead to rebellious impulses. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the grandmother is the most crucial character. She is facing the problem of having to adjust to the rapidly changing world and the people living in it. She often dwells on the past and complains about how much better it was in the old days. She doesn't take the responsibility for the troubles her actions cause the family. Instead, she just blames all their troubles on the changing world. The grandmother spends so much time trying to convince everyone that the old days are better that she doesn't even realize the damage she does to every situation. She attempts to divert the family vacation to Tennessee by coming up with crazed fantasies of a “fellow that calls himself The Misfit aloose from the federal pen” (367) finding them in Florida. Then, as it turns out, through more of her actions, the family's eventual demise occurs: “People are certainly not nice like they used to be”, (370) says the grandmother. The grandmother's behavior is essentially the root of the family's predicament. At a time where people were just beginning to perceive African Americans as equals, the grandmother still has the idea that black race is inferior. During their trip the grandmother spots a young, black boy and cries,”Oh look at the cute pickaninny!”(368). then furthers her racist comment by saying,”Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do” (368): she is obviously a racist. This is a time in history where racism was no longer socially accepted. The grandmother is a stands out with society's thinking at the time. As the story continues, the realization that the grandmother is extremely selfish comes forward. She has this idea that she is worth more than the people around her. When confronting The Misfit, she keeps shouting, “You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you?”(373). You would think that with the kids there she would be more concerned about their safety. It sounded like The Misfit was going to let them all go until the grandmother just had to shout, “You're The Misfit! I recognized you at once!”(373) Then she continued on about, “You don't look like you have common blood” (373) and, “I just know you're a good man” (374). She has this superiority complex that makes her value herself above even her own family. While she may mean well, the grandmother causes destruction every step of the way on this poor family's road trip. She causes the detour, the accident, and perhaps even the death of the entire family. She truly was a misfit with society and had issues with the changing world.
In conclusion, both authors’ did a fantastic job of conveying different societal corruptions. Both are slightly relevant to our society today. We tend to flock toward nasty gossip and are interested in spite of the privacy of the people involved. Whether it is standing on the side to watch a fight, an accident, we as Americans seem to have no problem "butting in" where we do not belong. We have no problem remarking on an individuals' adultery until it is ourselves that get caught. We have no problem stereotyping people until is we who are stereotyped. It seems as though we sometimes condemn everyday truths that we know are characteristics of most people, (like the grandmother), including ourselves, and being afraid to admit them, place the spotlight on someone else. It is sad and definitely hypocritical, but it happens all the time. Both short stories showed a strong presence of this.