preview

Gender Inequality In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Decent Essays
Open Document
The View of Women Gender inequality is the unfair view or treatment of someone due to their gender,or their classification. Gender Inequality goes back to the early civilizations in the world, more specifically Mesopotamia with women. Mesopotamian women were seen inferior compared to men, they weren’t allowed to have rights, they weren’t allowed to own land and choose their own husbands. This gender inequality can also be recognized in Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” by her usage of the black box to symbolize gender inequality. This can be express when Mr. Summers consulted his list and called up Clyde Dunbar, and realizes he broke his leg. “Who’s drawing for him?” “ Me, I guess,” a woman said, and Mr. Summers turned to look at her. “Wife draws for her husband,” Mr. Summers said, “Don’t you have a grown boy to do it for you, janey ( Shirley Jackson,line 134)?” Another line in which furthermore proves my point is when Mr. Summers makes a note and asks, “ Watson boy drawing this year?” A tall boy in the crowd raises 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, Jack,” and “ Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it( Jackson line 145).” From these two lines we can clearly see a major difference in which how a female is treated compared to a male. We can see how Mr. Summers questions a women for being the only one being able to draw
Get Access
Related
Get Access