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Allegory
Definition of Allusion
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals, historical events, or philosophical ideas... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to other literary works, famous individuals... read full definition
In literature, an allusion is an unexplained reference to someone or something outside of the text. Writers commonly allude to... read full definition
Allusions
Explanation and Analysis—Anne Hutchinson:
Many scholars believe that, in giving Tessie Hutchinson her name, Jackson is intentionally alluding to Anne Hutchinson, a religious reformer who lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century and was banished from her town after the Puritan religious authorities of the time declared her to be heretical. This was due to the fact that she challenged the male-dominated Church’s traditions, claiming that people should strive to have personal relationships with God rather than having such relationships mediated by (male) clergy.
While Tessie is not a rabble-rouser like Anne, Jackson hints that Tessie may see through the violent and patriarchal lottery tradition. For example, Tessie arrives late to the lottery proceedings. While she claims that she lost track of time, it’s also possible to read her tardiness as a subtle form of rebellion against the rules and rigidity of the practice.
Tessie also subtly pushes back against the lottery after her husband selects the marked slip of paper, meaning that someone in their family must be stoned, and continues to push back when she herself picks the slip of paper that designates her as the one in her family to be killed. Her subtle resistance comes across in the following passage, as people (including her son Davy) pick up stones with which to kill her:
The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles.
Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said.
Though not an effective form of protest, Tessie’s decision to “[hold] her hands out” as if to stop the villagers who are “mov[ing] in on her” and saying, “It isn’t fair” (a line she repeats several times) is, in fact, a form of challenging the lottery tradition. In this way, Tessie subtly carries on Anne Hutchinson’s legacy.
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