An overview of thematic concepts in Shirley Jackson\'s classic short story "The Lottery"

1. Understanding Themes in
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”
Ms. Alvarez
Readers and Writers Workshop

2. Understanding Terms
 Sacrifice: giving up something, often in order to gain
something more valuable
 Scapegoat: one who takes the blame of others:
 Status quo: the way things are. The phrase
“maintain the status quo” means keeping things the
way they are
 Theme: the main idea of a piece of literature that
tells us something about life, society or human
nature (ex. The theme of Green Eggs and Ham is
“have an open mind.”)

3. A Few Themes in “The Lottery”
 Society blames people wrongly when there is
a problem (“scapegoating”)
 People often have a hard time changing their
ways, even if what they’re doing is outdated
or morally wrong (sticking to the “status quo”)

4. Ancient Examples of Scapegoating
 The use of an actual
goat to take away the
problems of a
community started in
ancient Israel among
the Jewish people.
Once a year,
communities would
send a goat that
symbolically carried the
sins of the people out.

5. Ancient Examples of Scapegoating
 In ancient Greece, the
scapegoat ritual took a
more severe form.
Instead of sending out
a goat from the
community, in times of
trouble, a person who
was homeless, disabled
or who had a criminal
record was stoned and
driven out of the
community or killed.

6. Modern Examples of Scapegoating
 The Nazis used the
Jewish people as
scapegoats for the
economic problems in
Germany. This led to
the Holocaust and the
silence of many good
people who could have
prevented the deaths of
millions

7. Questions:
 Are there any examples of people being
scapegoated in our current society?
 How is scapegoating used to maintain order
in the community in “The Lottery?”

8. Examples of Maintaining the Status Quo
in History
 The attitude behind maintaining the status
quo is “We’ve always done things this way.
Why change anything?”

9. Questions:
 What examples of maintaining the status quo
we see today?
 What might it take for the villagers in “The
Lottery” to realize that they need to change
the “status quo” and end the lottery?
 Are there other themes that you can draw
from this story?

10. Questions:
 What examples of maintaining the status quo
we see today?
 What might it take for the villagers in “The
Lottery” to realize that they need to change
the “status quo” and end the lottery?
 Are there other themes that you can draw
from this story?