The Lottery: Tradition and Cruelty
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" features a supposedly civilized village with barbaric traditions. At the beginning of the story, the townsfolk appear to be fairly civilized and seem to carry on modern lifestyles. This is assumed by the men at work and the children playing as if it were just an average day. The lottery was outdated to such a degree that some seen it as a cruel tradition no one could escape. On the other hand, some had believed that carrying on the tradition was necessary.
Not long after "The Lottery" was published in The New Yorker, "a flood of mail - hundreds of letters-deluged both the editorial offices in New York and the post office in Bennington" (Friedman 63). Shirley Jackson said that out of all the letters sent, there were only thirteen that were positive responses, and those were from her friends (63). The letters consisted of "bewilderment, speculation, and old-fashioned abuse" (63). The public's initial reaction to the story was extremely negative.
The fact that the tradition itself is scheduled for 10:00 and it took only two hours shows that there is no concern for the "winner" of the lottery, only for themselves. The villagers had a convenient amount of time so they were able to eat their lunch afterwards and continue their day. The children collected stones, competing against the other children, and tried to keep other friends from stealing rocks from their piles. This most definitely shows that the tradition is only a game to the children. The adults in the story are rather nonchalant as well. Mrs. Hutchinson can't help but finish washing her dishes before meeting her family and friends at the village square. After Tessie is selected as the "chosen one", her friends initiates the stoning. Mrs. Delacroix, who picks up a larger stone with two hands, starts the throwing by telling others to "come on". There is no mercy shown towards the victims of the lottery, even when it may be a family member or loved one.
Another inhumane act is how the characters Nancy and Bill Jr. laugh after realizing that they've survived the drawing. Neither of them show any concern for the death of others. It's hard to visualize how loving they can be one minute then the next they're eager to watch someone go through torture. "Not until the truth of the lottery is revealed can the reader appreciate the chilling callousness of this business-as-usual attitude on the part of the community and the willingness of the people to accept and dismiss torture-death as a common occurrence" (65).
The barbaric themes present in this story are not only portrayed in the character's actions or words but also by the author's choice of names. A few of the names include: "Martin," Bobby's surname, which comes from a Middle English word signifying an ape or monkey. The names refer the animal many believe that humans evolved from. Jackson implies that humans still act with animal-like instincts. These also refer to the Middle Ages which was a period of persecutions and burning at the stake because of insignificant reasons.
Jackson is surely a master of situational irony in which she makes you believe what seems to be and throws the reader for a twist to realize what really is (Friedman 72). When reading "The Lottery" for the first time, the reader probably expects that Tessie Hutchinson is actually a "winner," but only in the end does the reader realize what winning the lottery is truly about. When the reader realizes what the lottery actually entails, barbaric characteristics are then placed on the characters because the activities of the villagers seem to be typical of any small town (Friedman 71).
Another aspect of situational irony that enhances the barbaric theme role of the character Mr. Summers. He is not only the coordinator of the tradition, but he also holds other positions in the community. The fact that he has such a huge role within the community makes him appear as someone who does good and means no harm. In all actuality, because he is the leader of the lottery, he is the most barbaric. The irony enhances the barbarism even more since there is really no emotion shown from the characters that could give a hint of what's to come.
When the San Francisco Chronicle asked Shirley Jackson to explain the true meaning of the story she refused. But after numerous requests she did make the following statement: "Explaining just what I hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives" (Friedman 64). Jackson made it pretty obvious that she had attempted to portray a barbaric tradition that should have been stopped long before it was. She wants her readers to realize that outdated traditions are still present today's world.
Shirley Jackson's story portrays problems in today's society. Primal animal-like instincts still lurk inside every one of us. After reading "The Lottery" and discovering it's true barbaric theme, it is evident that Jackson did intend to portray barbaric aspects of stoning people in order to have an abundant crop outcome to show to the reader that these barbaric actions do occur in our world today.

Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The Lottery and Other Stories. New York: Farrar, 1991. 291-302.
Friedman, Lenemaja. "Shirley Jackson." New Yorker (1975): n. pag. Print.
"Eighty-Five from the Archive: Shirley Jackson." New Yorker. 21 Mar. 2010. Web. <http://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/eighty-five-from-the-archive-shirley-jackson>.
""The Lottery" Letters." New Yorker. 25 June 2013. Web. <http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-lottery-letters>.