In Shirley Jackson's chilling short story "The Lottery," Tessie Hutchinson is definitively the scapegoat.
Understanding the Scapegoat in "The Lottery"
Tessie Hutchinson's unfortunate role as the community's victim in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" highlights the story's grim commentary on tradition and blind adherence. Her selection as the scapegoat is a matter of pure happenstance, devoid of any prior wrongdoing or specific characteristic that would single her out, making her fate all the more shocking and arbitrary. This underscores that she is merely a random victim, chosen by the lottery itself, rather than by any personal fault.
The Ritual and Its Victim
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," first published in The New Yorker in 1948, depicts a seemingly normal village that annually gathers for a ritualistic lottery. What begins as a community event quickly descends into a horrifying display of mob mentality and senseless violence.
This annual tradition serves a dark purpose: to select an individual for ritualistic stoning, supposedly to ensure a good harvest or maintain social order. The chosen person bears the brunt of the community's collective aggression, becoming a symbolic sacrifice. For more information on the story's historical impact, you can refer to resources like the Wikipedia page for "The Lottery".
Defining the Scapegoat
A scapegoat is an individual or group upon whom the blame for the problems of others is projected, leading to their persecution or punishment. In a societal context, scapegoating can serve to:
- Disperse collective guilt: By focusing blame on one person, the community avoids confronting its own complicity or underlying issues.
- Maintain social cohesion (perversely): The shared act of violence against an outsider or designated victim can temporarily unite a group.
- Reinforce existing traditions: Even if the original purpose is forgotten, the ritual continues out of fear of disruption.
In "The Lottery," Tessie fits this definition precisely. She becomes the conduit for the villagers' repressed aggression and their unexamined adherence to a barbaric tradition.
Tessie's Unfortunate Selection
Tessie Hutchinson's fate is sealed when her family draws the marked slip of paper, and then she, herself, draws the final, marked slip from the family's submissions. Her initial, lighthearted approach to the lottery quickly turns to desperate protest as the gravity of her situation becomes clear. Despite her pleas and accusations of unfairness ("It isn't fair, it isn't right!"), the community, including her own family, turns on her, ready to fulfill their roles in the annual ritual. Her pleas are dismissed, and she is stoned to death by the villagers, including her husband and children. This act underscores the terrifying power of unquestioned tradition and the dehumanizing effect of mob mentality.
Key aspects of Tessie as the scapegoat:
- Random Selection: Her selection is purely coincidental, determined by a draw of lots, emphasizing the arbitrary nature of the violence.
- Victim of Tradition: She is sacrificed to uphold a ritual whose original purpose is long forgotten but fiercely maintained by the community.
- Collective Release: Her death serves as an outlet for the community's collective anxieties and a perverse form of social bonding through shared violence.
