THE LOTTERY BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
The Lottery, a short story by Shirley Jackson, first appeared in the New Yorker in 1948, the year that marked the end of World War II. Often classified as a horror story and the subject of much controversy, the tale describes a small town that holds an annual lottery, where the townspeople stone the winner of that lottery to death. Jackson's controversial piece is considered to be one of the best stories of the 20th century. It was heatedly debated when released, as it revealed dark truths about a traumatised and exhausted society trying to deal with the ramifications of the first half of the 1900s.
The aftermath of the horrors of WW2 saw an American society craving comfort and normalcy, and reverting to conformist ideals. The villager's obstinacy in keeping the tattered and splintered black box represents this, suggesting an era where people were desperately grasping at comfortable yet outdated and decrepit morals and traditions. In the story, Old Man Warner is a stout advocate of the process, openly condemning other villages that have stopped the practice as a "pack of crazy fools". Jackson is tapping into the notion of 'traditions held for tradition's sake', sometimes at very large cost. The chilling story highlights the cruel pack mentality humans can adopt when believing that what they are doing is right. An instance of irony is seen between two men talking about other towns rejecting the lottery procedure that is vital to the basic message of the story. The eldest of them states “Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves.” This concept of being uncivilised because they will not perform an act that the reader almost certainly will find uncivilised is one of the central messages of the story: humans will accept and practice traditions and social norms regardless of the outsider perspective. An obvious example of this mindset was seen during the atrocities committed in the Jewish Holocaust, where innocent people were persecuted for reasons that were built from the nuts and bolts of hysteria and desperation, which remain incomprehensible to anyone that did not experience that craze. Without questioning moral judgment, the villagers turn on the 'marked' woman, despite any relationship previously shared. This shockingly brutal finale to the story is indicative of the human tendency to conform to popular demand, like sheep in a herd. And the paddocks of America after WW2 were bursting with conformists willing to sacrifice anything for tradition and comfort.
The Lottery's savage ending illuminates a theme perpetually written in the books of history: persecution without judicious evidence. The fact that the villagers converged on the young mother guilty of no transgression other than, say, drawing the shortest straw, exemplifies the extremities society can reach. During the Cold War, a new sensation swept across America - the fear of communism. As Tess lost her identity the moment she revealed the mark on her slip of paper, so did American citizens once accused of sympathising to the communist movement. They became the targets of society, and were 'stoned' with disgrace, vilification and unjustified persecution. Initially, the town seems endearing and good-humored, gossiping, laughing and pursuing day-to-day activities. The title itself indicates a sense of happiness and jubilance, the word 'lottery' connotative of winning and excitement. This is, obviously, an ironic twist designed to shock readers when considering a lottery of death. Ignoring Tess' pleas, "it isn't fair, it isn't right", the villagers, even the children, loose their stones at her with a sense of excitement, a visceral frenzy that is beyond control. This ending suggests a dark truth: beneath the quiet facade of normalcy lies a cold heart within humanity, a malevolent nature that, once provoked, is exempt from moral reasoning, and has been unleashed numerous times in the past with devastating consequences.
The aftermath of the horrors of WW2 saw an American society craving comfort and normalcy, and reverting to conformist ideals. The villager's obstinacy in keeping the tattered and splintered black box represents this, suggesting an era where people were desperately grasping at comfortable yet outdated and decrepit morals and traditions. In the story, Old Man Warner is a stout advocate of the process, openly condemning other villages that have stopped the practice as a "pack of crazy fools". Jackson is tapping into the notion of 'traditions held for tradition's sake', sometimes at very large cost. The chilling story highlights the cruel pack mentality humans can adopt when believing that what they are doing is right. An instance of irony is seen between two men talking about other towns rejecting the lottery procedure that is vital to the basic message of the story. The eldest of them states “Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves.” This concept of being uncivilised because they will not perform an act that the reader almost certainly will find uncivilised is one of the central messages of the story: humans will accept and practice traditions and social norms regardless of the outsider perspective. An obvious example of this mindset was seen during the atrocities committed in the Jewish Holocaust, where innocent people were persecuted for reasons that were built from the nuts and bolts of hysteria and desperation, which remain incomprehensible to anyone that did not experience that craze. Without questioning moral judgment, the villagers turn on the 'marked' woman, despite any relationship previously shared. This shockingly brutal finale to the story is indicative of the human tendency to conform to popular demand, like sheep in a herd. And the paddocks of America after WW2 were bursting with conformists willing to sacrifice anything for tradition and comfort.
The Lottery's savage ending illuminates a theme perpetually written in the books of history: persecution without judicious evidence. The fact that the villagers converged on the young mother guilty of no transgression other than, say, drawing the shortest straw, exemplifies the extremities society can reach. During the Cold War, a new sensation swept across America - the fear of communism. As Tess lost her identity the moment she revealed the mark on her slip of paper, so did American citizens once accused of sympathising to the communist movement. They became the targets of society, and were 'stoned' with disgrace, vilification and unjustified persecution. Initially, the town seems endearing and good-humored, gossiping, laughing and pursuing day-to-day activities. The title itself indicates a sense of happiness and jubilance, the word 'lottery' connotative of winning and excitement. This is, obviously, an ironic twist designed to shock readers when considering a lottery of death. Ignoring Tess' pleas, "it isn't fair, it isn't right", the villagers, even the children, loose their stones at her with a sense of excitement, a visceral frenzy that is beyond control. This ending suggests a dark truth: beneath the quiet facade of normalcy lies a cold heart within humanity, a malevolent nature that, once provoked, is exempt from moral reasoning, and has been unleashed numerous times in the past with devastating consequences.
SUBWAY BY GEORGE TOOKER
Subway, painted in 1950, is George Tooker's desolate and haunting depiction of an oppressive and isolated world. This bleak representation of modern post-war society is overwhelmed with messages of alienation and isolation, and is representative of the era that followed the ending of World War II.
This painting is laden with aesthetic techniques designed to evoke a chilling and fearful atmosphere. Depicting a nightmarish urban landscape, the figures within the artwork appear to be trapped within themselves, experiencing their own internal torture. They seem silent, transient, psychologically estranged from one another and consumed in their own misery despite their close proximity. Each one is wearing a long overcoat, a heavy burden that droops from their shoulders in silent oppression, and no figure is gazing directly at the viewer, promoting the feeling of detachment and the inability to establish emotional connections. The anxious woman in the foreground, the only character that appears to be displaying a high level of emotion, is the salience of the image, and feelings of paranoia and disorientation are instantaneously stimulated within the responder, as if this lady in her aberrantly bright red dress is bewilderedly adrift and out of place in her callous surroundings. Tooker is illustrating the isolating and emotionally annihilating effects the war and other events had on society, and the detached world that was produced as a result. In an obituary for Tooker, the Times wrote that his works “expressed a 20th-century brand of anxiety of alienation.” Consumed by their own problems and fears, Subway presents a population living in silent torment and permanent depression, symbolising the anguish and emotional agony that arose during the aftermath of WW2. The irony of the painting is the feeling of isolation that is paradoxically endemic in densely populated areas. Subway displays the self-absorbed and sorrowful persona humanity had assumed as a means of dealing with the repercussions of such a tragic era.
It is difficult to discern whether the setting of Subway is that of an actual subway or really a prison. The harsh colours - black bars, white tiled walls, grey concrete floors, bright lighting - and seemingly endless labyrinth of passages conjure ideas of confinement and the psychological repression of emotions. The figures are isolated in a cell-like space that is indicative of the suffocating society that existed during the age of the Cold War. Corresponding with the nature of the war itself, society had adopted a cold-hearted stance on life, discriminating against anyone that strayed from the straight line of socially acceptable characteristics. Tooker considered himself to be among the ranks of mistreated people that occupied that era; his homosexuality and youthful Communist ties marking him in bright red as an obvious target for attack, such as violence and discrimination, during the days of McCarthyism and the unjust persecution of communists. This is represented in Subway, this feeling of society imprisoning one's true self, granting bail only to an identity that is socially acceptable. The painting is an insight into the cruelness of humanity and the degradation of empathy, highlighting the loss of compassion for one another that occurred as society attempted to recuperate from the horrors of war and deal with nuclear threat.
Another interesting feature in this artwork is the central woman's large hand resting in front of her stomach. Could this be a symbol of maternal protection, another element that is adding to this woman's fear? The notion of bringing something as innocent and untainted as a child into such a desolate and callous world is frightening, and suggests a loss of purity from society. It also alludes to a world that has emotionally died, caught in a black hole of despair; a world where a child would need to be protected and feared for. Painted during a time in which women's civil freedoms had not yet been fully realised, there were still feminine expectations for woman to adopt a domestic, motherly role. Tooker's choice of a woman as the dominance of the artwork could be a stance against the gender status quo of post-war society. Femininity is often associated with delicacy and sensitivity, and Tooker's use of a woman as the focal point could also inhabit these themes, her anxiety an indicator that she is different on an emotional level to the desensitised people that surround her and fears victimisation. This is exacerbated by her being amidst a group of grim-looking men, and also by her red dress - red often being connotative of passion, desire and more tender feelings than the miserable ones of those around her. The red colour of her dress could also allude to Tooker's communist background, thus providing another explanation for her fearful expression. However, this is open to interpretation - as complex artwork often is.
George Tooker's depressing and disconcerting piece intensely reveals the psychological downfalls of society after the conclusion of the Second World War and throughout the Cold War era. His bleak view of the modern generation coincides with the agonising internal issues many experienced as a result of the traumatic events that had occurred from the beginning of the 20th century.
This painting is laden with aesthetic techniques designed to evoke a chilling and fearful atmosphere. Depicting a nightmarish urban landscape, the figures within the artwork appear to be trapped within themselves, experiencing their own internal torture. They seem silent, transient, psychologically estranged from one another and consumed in their own misery despite their close proximity. Each one is wearing a long overcoat, a heavy burden that droops from their shoulders in silent oppression, and no figure is gazing directly at the viewer, promoting the feeling of detachment and the inability to establish emotional connections. The anxious woman in the foreground, the only character that appears to be displaying a high level of emotion, is the salience of the image, and feelings of paranoia and disorientation are instantaneously stimulated within the responder, as if this lady in her aberrantly bright red dress is bewilderedly adrift and out of place in her callous surroundings. Tooker is illustrating the isolating and emotionally annihilating effects the war and other events had on society, and the detached world that was produced as a result. In an obituary for Tooker, the Times wrote that his works “expressed a 20th-century brand of anxiety of alienation.” Consumed by their own problems and fears, Subway presents a population living in silent torment and permanent depression, symbolising the anguish and emotional agony that arose during the aftermath of WW2. The irony of the painting is the feeling of isolation that is paradoxically endemic in densely populated areas. Subway displays the self-absorbed and sorrowful persona humanity had assumed as a means of dealing with the repercussions of such a tragic era.
It is difficult to discern whether the setting of Subway is that of an actual subway or really a prison. The harsh colours - black bars, white tiled walls, grey concrete floors, bright lighting - and seemingly endless labyrinth of passages conjure ideas of confinement and the psychological repression of emotions. The figures are isolated in a cell-like space that is indicative of the suffocating society that existed during the age of the Cold War. Corresponding with the nature of the war itself, society had adopted a cold-hearted stance on life, discriminating against anyone that strayed from the straight line of socially acceptable characteristics. Tooker considered himself to be among the ranks of mistreated people that occupied that era; his homosexuality and youthful Communist ties marking him in bright red as an obvious target for attack, such as violence and discrimination, during the days of McCarthyism and the unjust persecution of communists. This is represented in Subway, this feeling of society imprisoning one's true self, granting bail only to an identity that is socially acceptable. The painting is an insight into the cruelness of humanity and the degradation of empathy, highlighting the loss of compassion for one another that occurred as society attempted to recuperate from the horrors of war and deal with nuclear threat.
Another interesting feature in this artwork is the central woman's large hand resting in front of her stomach. Could this be a symbol of maternal protection, another element that is adding to this woman's fear? The notion of bringing something as innocent and untainted as a child into such a desolate and callous world is frightening, and suggests a loss of purity from society. It also alludes to a world that has emotionally died, caught in a black hole of despair; a world where a child would need to be protected and feared for. Painted during a time in which women's civil freedoms had not yet been fully realised, there were still feminine expectations for woman to adopt a domestic, motherly role. Tooker's choice of a woman as the dominance of the artwork could be a stance against the gender status quo of post-war society. Femininity is often associated with delicacy and sensitivity, and Tooker's use of a woman as the focal point could also inhabit these themes, her anxiety an indicator that she is different on an emotional level to the desensitised people that surround her and fears victimisation. This is exacerbated by her being amidst a group of grim-looking men, and also by her red dress - red often being connotative of passion, desire and more tender feelings than the miserable ones of those around her. The red colour of her dress could also allude to Tooker's communist background, thus providing another explanation for her fearful expression. However, this is open to interpretation - as complex artwork often is.
George Tooker's depressing and disconcerting piece intensely reveals the psychological downfalls of society after the conclusion of the Second World War and throughout the Cold War era. His bleak view of the modern generation coincides with the agonising internal issues many experienced as a result of the traumatic events that had occurred from the beginning of the 20th century.