Abstract
A member of the Southern Gothic tradition, Shirley Jackson's famous story "The Lottery" is about an annual lottery that is held regularly in an indefinite period of time in a town in Southern part of America. The story, which criticizes conformist and traditional society through symbolic and social elements, begins with the selection of a family with a card drawn from the ancient black box. After that, a second draw is made to determine who from the family will be stoned. The chosen one is stoned to death by all the townspeople. Jackson's irony, symbolism, and language add to the story's shocking impact. It is true that “The Lottery,” a widely critically and disturbingly dystopian tale, demonstrates the vulnerability of human nature to conformism by showing that even the most ordinary communities can be prone to violence. Analyzing the characters, place and narrative structure, this study aims to discuss the conflict of conformism and marginal thinking and the consequences of this conflict through a society that blindly follows traditions, by shedding light on the complex relationships between tradition, social dynamics and human nature depicted in the story.
References
- Baldick, C. (2008). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.
- Coulthard, A. R. (1990). Jackson’s the Lottery. Explicator. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.1990.9934004
- Dohrmann, N.B. (2009). Capital Punishment: Judaism. In C. Helmer, S.L. McKenzie, T.C. Römer, J. Schröter, B.D. Walfish, E. Ziolkowski (Eds.), Ecyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (pp. 954-957). New York: De Gruyter. Emerson, R. W. (n.d.). Self-Reliance. Emerson - essays - self-reliance. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/selfreliance.html Freud, S. (2003). The Uncanny. Penguin.
- Gibson, J. M. (1984). An Old Testament Analogue for “The Lottery.” Journal of Modern Literature, 11(1), 193–195. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3831163
- Hakaraia, T. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery,’ and William Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity. Humanities, 8(3), 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/h8030137
- Ismael, Z. I., & Ali, S. a. K. (2018). Human Rights at Stake: Shirley Jackson’s Social and Political Protest in “The Lottery.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.6p.28
- Jackson, S. (2020). Piyango ve Diğer Öyküler. Siren Yayınları.
- Robinson, M. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust Literature. Humanities, 8(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/h8010035
- Samuelson, K. (2022, July 14). The countries where men and women can be stoned to death. The Week UK. https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/crime/957354/the-countries-where-men-women-can-be-stoned-to-death
- Savoy, E. (2017). Between as if and is: On Shirley Jackson, Women's Studies, 46:8, 827-844, DOI: 10.1080/00497878.2017.1392797
Abstract
Güney Gotiği geleneğinden gelen Shirley Jackson'ın ünlü hikayesi “Piyango” belirsiz bir zaman diliminde Amerika’nın güneyindeki bir kasabada her yıl düzenli bir şekilde gerçekleştirilen piyangoyu konu edinir. Konformist ve geleneksel toplum eleştirisini sembolik ve toplumsal unsurlar üzerinden yapan hikâye kadim siyah kutudan çekilen kartla önce bir ailenin seçilmesiyle başlar. Bunun ertesinde de aileden kimin taşlanacağını belirlemek için ikinci bir çekiliş yapılır. Seçilen kişi tüm kasaba halkı tarafından taşlanarak öldürülür. Jackson'ın kullandığı ironi, sembolizm ve kullanılan dil öykünün sarsıcı etkisine katkıda bulunur. Şu bir gerçek ki geniş çaplı eleştiriler yapan ve rahatsız edici distopik bir hikâye olan “Piyango” en sıradan toplulukların bile şiddete meyilli olabileceğini göstererek insan doğasının konformizm karşısındaki zayıflığını gözler önüne serer. Karakterleri, mekânı ve anlatı yapısını analiz eden bu çalışma, hikâyede tasvir edilen gelenek, sosyal dinamikler ve insan doğası arasındaki karmaşık ilişkilere ışık tutarak gelenekleri körü körüne takip eden bir toplum üzerinden konformizmin ve aykırı düşüncenin çatışmasını ve bu çatışmanın sonuçlarını tartışmayı amaç edinir.
Keywords
References
- Baldick, C. (2008). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.
- Coulthard, A. R. (1990). Jackson’s the Lottery. Explicator. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.1990.9934004
- Dohrmann, N.B. (2009). Capital Punishment: Judaism. In C. Helmer, S.L. McKenzie, T.C. Römer, J. Schröter, B.D. Walfish, E. Ziolkowski (Eds.), Ecyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (pp. 954-957). New York: De Gruyter. Emerson, R. W. (n.d.). Self-Reliance. Emerson - essays - self-reliance. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/selfreliance.html Freud, S. (2003). The Uncanny. Penguin.
- Gibson, J. M. (1984). An Old Testament Analogue for “The Lottery.” Journal of Modern Literature, 11(1), 193–195. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3831163
- Hakaraia, T. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery,’ and William Empson’s Seven Types of Ambiguity. Humanities, 8(3), 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/h8030137
- Ismael, Z. I., & Ali, S. a. K. (2018). Human Rights at Stake: Shirley Jackson’s Social and Political Protest in “The Lottery.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.7n.6p.28
- Jackson, S. (2020). Piyango ve Diğer Öyküler. Siren Yayınları.
- Robinson, M. (2019). Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Holocaust Literature. Humanities, 8(1), 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/h8010035
- Samuelson, K. (2022, July 14). The countries where men and women can be stoned to death. The Week UK. https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/crime/957354/the-countries-where-men-women-can-be-stoned-to-death
- Savoy, E. (2017). Between as if and is: On Shirley Jackson, Women's Studies, 46:8, 827-844, DOI: 10.1080/00497878.2017.1392797
Details
| Primary Language | Turkish |
|---|---|
| Subjects | American Studies |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | October 27, 2023 |
| Submission Date | July 16, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Volume: 8 Issue: 3 |
