“The Lottery” is a prime example of a dystopia. For each of the following characteristics of a dystopia, find one example from “
The Lottery.” propaganda (biased information used to promote/advertise) is used to control the citizens: a concept or figurehead being worshipped by the society: the advantage of the many against the few: citizens living in a dehumanized (inhumane mistreatment) state:
The beginning of “The Lottery” doesn’t seem very odd. The people seem relatively normal, the adults are working, yet there is a sense of uneasiness. It soon becomes clear that the “lottery” that keeps getting mentioned is what causes this sense of unease. Yet the reader is still unaware of what part of this lottery is making them uncomfortable, and it starts to become clear that winning the lottery is not a good thing. Slowly the reader puts together various pieces of the story, and it becomes clear what will happen: the winner of the lottery is stoned to death, supposedly to ensure a good harvest. The story becomes darker and darker as one realizes that no one really even knows the origin of the ritual and why it cannot be done away with. It becomes clear that “The Lottery” is a prime example of a dystopia, because propaganda is used to control the citizens, which leads to the freedom of information being heavily restricted. This happens to the point where citizens from different towns rarely speak with one another. One must question why this information is restricted (or rather, has it simply been forgotten?) how it came to be this way, and why the citizens don’t work to change it.
