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Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
“The Lottery” is set in an unnamed rural community in a dystopian version of the United States in the mid-20th century. The story includes classic descriptions of small-town America, such as the fact that there is a town square between a post office and a bank and that “the villagers” (as the people in the community are referred to) enjoy engaging in square dances and Halloween festivities. Of course, the town is not as quaint and peaceful as it seems, as Jackson reveals at the end of the story when all the villagers take part in the annual “lottery” tradition and stone a randomly selected person to death.
A notable element of the setting is the fact that, even though this is a fictional version of the United States, the same rigid gender norms apply here as were common in the mid-20th century. When creating the rules of the lottery, Jackson pulled from common patriarchal practices, as seen in the following passage (which comes as the lottery overseer Mr. Summers calls villagers up to pull their slips of paper):
A tall boy in the crowd raised his hand. "Here," he said. "I’m drawing for my mother and me." He blinked his eyes nervously and ducked his head as several voices in the crowd said things like "Good fellow, lad." and "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it."
This passage captures how, according to the rules of the lottery, only men can participate on behalf of their family, even if that “man” is a teenager who is much younger than his mother. That the crowd says things like, “Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it” suggests that the same rigid gender roles that were common in the real-life U.S. in the mid-20th century (when Jackson was writing) are common in this fictional community as well. These choices are likely intentional on Jackson’s part, as she highlights the way that male-dominated societies and wanton violence are often linked.
Related Themes:
