Monday, October 19, 2015

How would you relate the symbolism of "The Lottery" to the practice of scapegoating?Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

The Russian physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov proved that
certain objects or sounds and sights condition people.  This classical conditioning, as
the phenomenon is termed, is clearly present in Shirley Jackson's short story, "The
Lottery" as the sight of certain things causes the residents of the village to react. 
For instance, as the men gather, they stand together,


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away from the pile of stones in the corner, and
their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than
laughed.



Obviously, the men
are ill at ease after they see the pile of stones which represent the death of the
scapegoat that is soon to take place.  Likewise, when Mr. Summers arrives with the black
box which contains the slips of paper, one of which is marked with a black spot for the
scapegoat, "there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers."  They, then, keep
their distance and leave a cautious space between themselves and the stool upon which
this box will rest.


Each of these symbols--the stones, the
black box, and the black spot--have suggestions of death attached to them.  Because of
this representation of the death of the scapegoat, the symbols cause uneasiness among
the villagers whose fears are aroused that they may be marked as the scapegoat during
this drawing.  In this way, the symbolism of the objects, because of the villagers
conditioning, is related to the practice of scapegoating.

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