Shirley Jackson was a renowned 20th century author known for examining themes of everyday evil in her works. She depicts humanity's capacity for prejudice, conformity, cruelty and violence through stories set in ordinary contemporary settings. Some of her most famous works that illustrate this theme include the short stories "The Lottery" and "The Summer People", as well as her novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Jackson forces readers to confront the hidden evil that can exist beneath the surface of normal human interactions and communities.

1. Everyday Evil in the Works of
Shirley Jackson
By Stephen Matthew Williams
Troy University
Professor Elizabeth Owens
English 1102

2. About the Author
• Born in 1916
• Award winning author
of numerous novels
and short story
collections.
• Frequently featured in
The New Yorker

3. About the Author
• Most famous story is
“The Lottery”
• She has become more
popular and more
frequently analyzed
since her death in 1965

4. Everyday Evil
• Throughout Shirley Jackson’s work, there is a
common theme of “everyday evil”.
• She examines the human capacity for prejudice,
conformity, cruelty, and violence
• She also uses contemporary settings to force readers
to look inward and realize humanity is scarier than
we care to admit.

5. Works to Examine
• Short Stories
• “The Summer People”
• “The Lottery”
• “The Witch”
• “The Renegade”
• Novels
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle”

6. “The Summer People”
• Tells the story of an older
couple who decide to stay
in their summer home in
the fall.
• They are met with
hostility from the
townspeople who distrust
city folk going against
tradition.

7. “The Summer People”
• The townspeople cut
off their supplies, cut
their phone lines, and
leave them stranded and
awaiting death.
• Speaks to the prejudice
of tight-knit
communities against
outsiders

8. “The Lottery”
• A small village annually
draws slips of paper to
determine who “wins”
the town lottery.
• The chosen villager is
stoned to death by their
fellow citizens,
including their own
family members.

9. “The Lottery”
• The real-world setting
shocks the reader at
humanity’s capacity for
violence.
• The story is a
commentary on blindly
following tradition and
the dangers of groupmentality.

10. “The Witch”
• A young boy occupies his
time staring out the
window of a train, and
claims to see a threatening
witch staring back.
• An old man enters the
train and begins
recounting to the boy, the
horrific way in which he
murdered his sister.

11. “The Witch”
• The kind-looking old
man is far more
terrifying than the
imaginary witch.
• Highlights the cruelty
and violence hiding
beneath a seemingly
ordinary human being.

12. “The Renegade”
• A family of city folk, the
Walpoles, move to the
country
• Mrs. Walpole is informed
that her dog Lady is
killing neighborhood
chickens.
• The townsfolk convict the
dog without proof and
demand it be shot.

13. “The Renegade”
• Others suggest malicious
ways of hurting the dog to
deter her from future attacks.
• Mrs. Walpole is shocked when
her own children join in one
the cruel talk.
• Surrounded by cruelty and
malice, Mrs. Walpole wonders
if the townsfolk and her
children might eventually get
violent with her as well.

14. Children in Jackson’s Work
Like in “The Renegade” Jackson often gives the children in her
story a sinister side to shock the reader.
She makes the point that its not just adults that hold the capacity
for cruelty.

15. We Have Always Lived in the
Castle
• The final novel written by
Shirley Jackson
• Concerns the Blackwood
girls: a pair of reclusive
sisters who met with
suspicion after the
poisoning of their family
six years ago.
• Combines themes of
prejudice, conformity, cru
elty, and violence

16. Jackson Examines Evil on Both
Sides
The Villagers
The Blackwood Girls
• Treat the girls poorly despite
• History of prejudice feelings
• Mock and taunt Merricat
• Poisoned their own family years
lack of proof
Blackwood when she comes
into town
• Act joyful when the
Blackwood house is on fire
• Represent conformity and
prejudice
against the villagers
ago
• Burn down the house to evict an
unwanted guest.
• Jackson elicits sympathy for these
characters because of their harsh
upbringing, but still points out the
evil within them.

17. Use of Setting
• All of these works are set
in ordinary places
• Small Towns
• Grocery Stores
• Trains
• Jackson’s use of realworld settings make us
realize that there is evil
hiding beneath the
familiar.

18. In Conclusion….
• Shirley Jackson is a writer with
something to say about
humanity.
• The Summer People”, “The
Lottery”, “The Witch”, “The
Renegade”, and We Have
Always Lived in the Castle speak
to the prejudice and cruelty of
human beings.
• Her use of cotemporary
settings contribute to the
common theme in her writing:
“everyday evil”