Shirley Jackson's the Lottery - Purpose Essay

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

The main purpose of Shirley Jackson writing the short story, “The Lottery” is the criticism of the misogynistic way of thinking because of this highly patriarchal society that is supported through religion and culture in which people don’t have the courage to change or evolve from those thoughts and ideas.

The main purpose of Shirley Jackson writing the short story, “The Lottery” is the criticism of the misogynistic way of thinking because of this highly patriarchal society. Shirley Jackson essentially writes about a criticised tradition in a society. In her short story “The Lottery,” the housewife Tessie Hutchinson, the representation of Anne Hutchinson, was stoned in the annual tradition of their society after being picked in their “Lottery” and as the people were “upon her,” she screamed the phrase “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” illustrating the unfairness of the way women are treated in this patriarchal society (Jackson 7). Anne Hutchinson, was one of the first feminists who publicly criticized the misogynistic ways of religion and society at the time and was killed for her actions. Anne hutchinson’s biggest concern and motive was the fact that women couldn’t gain higher religious roles in her puritan minded society. Here we see how out of all the people in the “lottery,” the women that was represented as the basic housewife was picked to be stoned. Shirley Jackson made that choice to represent the unpleasant and inferior way that society treats women. This greatly relates to the documentary, “witches” in which we learn that society needed to put the blame of the horrible acts at the time on someone to keep society in control, so they decided to blame the defenseless woman. That is what was done back then, and is what was done in the story “the lottery.” This all contributes to the misogyny in this