Roshni Narasimhan Mrs.

Halvorson CP English 11 5 May 2012

Narasimhan 1

Under every persons civil appearance and decency lies an evil nature. Many stories have been written on this duality of human nature. American author Shirley Jackson is renowned for her controversial short stories on this topic. Her works were influenced by peoples actions and attitudes during World War II. Jacksons interest in writing sparked when she started writing for the Syracuse University literary magazine. Her works have inspired authors like Richard Matheson and Stephen King, and have earned her the reputation as a Gothic horror writer. She observed peoples underlying intentions and expressed them through short stories like Charles and The Lottery. Charles is about a boy named Laurie who tells his parents about Charles, a boy at his school who is always getting himself into trouble. Every day, Laurie has a new story to tell about Charles, making the parents worry about the bad influence Charles might have on Laurie. During teacher conferences, it is revealed that Laurie himself is Charles. On the other hand, The Lottery is about a town that holds an annual lottery, involving every family. Everyone picks pieces of paper out of a black box, and whoever gets the paper with a black spot on it, wins the lottery. However, this lottery has a strange twist. The person who wins the lottery must be stoned to death in order to bring a promising harvest for the town. Shirley Jackson, in her stories The Lottery and Charles, explores the dark side of human nature through the use of symbolism, irony, and characterization. Firstly, Shirley Jackson hints at the hidden dark side of human nature by the use of symbolism throughout her stories. In The Lottery, people of a small American village prepare for a town lottery. Everyone mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons attends this annual summertime lottery, a tradition

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that has been carried on for many generations. On the morning of June 27th, the date of the lottery, parents and their daughters gather and chat with each other while the boys in the town make a great pile of stones. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones, (The Lottery par. 2). The stones are later used to pelt the winner of the lottery to death. The rocks are a symbol of a human beings sadistic nature underneath his civil appearance. Though, at first, it seems like the boys are just playing a game with the stones to occupy themselves, it is soon evident that the stones are not simply playthings they are in fact brutal murder weapons. Jacksons specific choice to make the rocks responsible for a persons death emphasizes the savageness of the lottery and lack of emotion coming from the fellow townsfolk who participate in the murder. Also, in The Lottery, people have to pick pieces of paper from a black box in order to find the winner. The black box is placed on a three-legged stool, which is put in the center of the square. The black box had been part of the ongoing tradition of the lottery, and it had never been replaced. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here, (The Lottery par. 5). The box represents the primitive side of human nature. Jackson shows the barbaric instincts that remain within a human being, despite the advancements in civilization. The color of the black box itself is ominous, symbolizing death. Additionally, in the critical article titled The Lottery: Symbolic Tour de Force, critic Helen E. Nebeker states, The theme of the story: beneath our civilized surface, patterns of savage behavior are at work. The theme is mirrored in

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the gruesome unfolding of the lottery rite, (Nebeker par. 8). The collecting of smooth stones seemed to be part of an innocent game, but turned out to be a part of a barbaric murder. The box appeared like a normal box at first, but upon closer examination, its battered physical condition hinted at the townspeoples cruelty and battered morals. On the other hand, in the story Charles, a boy named Laurie starts kindergarten. Every day, when he comes home from school, he tells his parents about a troublesome boy named Charles. Eventually, the author indirectly reveals that Laurie himself is Charles. That day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt, (Charles par. 1). Lauries attire represents his dark side. He is not as innocent as his parents think he is. His bad grammar and attitude throughout the story also imply that the kindergartener is changing for the worse. Laurie creates a fake persona, Charles, in order to hide the evil side of himself from his parents. Through various accounts of symbolism in The Lottery and Charles, Jackson successfully displays the horrifying duality of human spirit. Secondly, Jackson illustrates the double-sidedness of human nature by using irony in her works. The setting of The Lottery greatly contrasts with what takes place at the end of the story. The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green, (The Lottery par. 1). The author makes it seem like its another average day in the town. The mood is jovial and carefree. Nothing hints at the brutal murder that takes place at the end of The Lottery. The title of the story itself is ironic. The whole idea

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of a lottery is to win and get a prize. In this story, however, the winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the entire town. Also, the annual lottery is treated like any other event in the town. The lottery was conductedas were the square dances, the teen club, and the Halloween program by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities, (The Lottery par. 4). The barbaric lottery is considered a civic activity. Likewise, in the critic article titled Overview of The Lottery, critic Jennifer Hicks states, Some also called to see where the town was so that they could go and watch the lottery. It is this last behavior, the need to feel a part of the gruesomeness that exists in American society that Jackson so skillfully depicts in The Lottery, (Hicks par. 2). . The townspeoples nonchalant attitude toward the lottery makes it seem even more horrific. Through these pieces of irony in The Lottery, Jackson portrays the evil behind a persons civil appearance. Moreover, in Charles, the author exhibits dramatic irony. Laurie has a story for his parents everyday about Charles the Troublemaker in his kindergarten class. The parents intently listen to Lauries stories. Little do they know that this bad boy is their own son. On Saturday, I remarked to my husband, Do you think kindergarten is too unsettling for Laurie? All this toughness and bad grammar, and this Charles boy sounds like such a bad influence. (Charles page 1). The parents finally realize that Laurie is Charles at the parent teacher conference, when Lauries teacher tells them that there is no boy named Charles in her kindergarten class. Its revealed that Laurie himself is the bad influence and the troublemaker of the class. Laurie has a dual personality; He is a nuisance in his kindergarten class, but normal when he comes

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home from school. These ironic twists in Jacksons stories, The Lottery and Charles emphasize a human beings dual nature. Lastly, Shirley Jackson highlights the duplicity of humanity through her use of characterization. In The Lottery, family life is used as a tool of characterization to create a false sense of security. The families in the village gather and gossip like they would in any other gathering. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times, (The Lottery par. 3). All the villagers seem to be well adjusted and sociable. The evil side of humanity is portrayed when these convivial characters commit the vicious murder of the unfortunate lottery winner. Mr. Summers character is described as a round-faced, jovial manwho had the time and energy to devote to civic activities, (The Lottery par. 4). Mr. Summers seems like the ideal villager. Ironically, he conducts the murderous lottery. Mr. Graves is another important character in the story. Although Mr. Summers conducts the lottery, Mr. Graves initiates it by placing the three-legged stool for the black box in the middle of the square. The rest of the year, the box was put way, sometimes one place, sometimes another; it had spent one year in Mr. Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office, (The Lottery par. 6). Mr. Graves kept the box with him or where he worked. His name itself is foreboding, which leads us to suspect evil surrounding the black lottery box. Furthermore, in the article Jacksons

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The Lottery, critic Seymour Lainhoff states, The theme of the story: beneath our civilized surface, patterns of savage behavior are at work. The theme is mirrored in the gruesome unfolding of the lottery rite, (Lainhoff par. 4). Mr. Summers represents the civil appearance of the lottery, whereas Mr. Graves is its evil end. Similarly, in Charles, Jackson uses characterization to display Lauries double-sided nature. The day my son Laurie started kindergarten he renounced corduroy overalls with bibs and began wearing blue jeans with a belt; I watched him go off the first morning with the older girl next door, seeing clearly that an era of my life was ended, my sweet voiced nursery-school tot replaced by a long-trousered, swaggering character who forgot to stop at the corner and wave good-bye to me, (Charles par. 1). Lauries attire and attitude suggest that he is no longer an innocent little mommys boy. He tries to hide the evil side of him from his parents by creating a fake persona named Charles. Shirley Jackson successfully exhibits the duplicity of human nature by the use of characterization in The Lottery and Charles. In conclusion, demonstrates the diabolical side to humanity through the use of symbolism, irony, and characterization in her short stories, The Lottery and Charles. The Lottery takes place in a seemingly mundane society. It is a bright and sunny day and the townsfolk are amiable. Ironically, when the lottery winner is chosen, the villagers reveal their savage nature and pelt the winner to death with stones. In Charles, Laurie hides his evil personality from his parents by acting out in school and

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behaving at home. People are not always what they seem to be. A persons evil nature is often masked by their civil appearance.