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Utopian Delusions in Shirley Jack-son’s The Lottery: A

Psychoanalysis Approach

Maya Sekartaji

Alphabet / Volume 05 / Number 02 / October 2022, pp. 93-101

doi: 10.21776/ub.alphabet.2022.05.02.04, Published online: October 2022

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How to cite this article :

Sekartaji, M. (2022). Utopian delusions in Shirley Jack-son’s The Lottery: A
psychoanalysis approach. Alphabet, 05(02), 93-101. doi: 10.21776/
ub.alphabet.2022.05.02.04

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 ©2018, by Study
Utopian Delusions in Shirley Jack- Program of English, Faculty of

son’s The Lottery: A Psychoanalysis Cultural Studies, Universitas

Brawijaya

Approach ISSN: 2615-630x (print)

2615-6296 (online)
Vol. 05, No. 02

Maya Sekartaji 1

Abstract
This study reveals the relationship between the plot, characterizations, point of view, and symbols-
allegory in the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Through the psychoanalytic approach proposed
by Carl Gustav Jung, this qualitative research also looks at the correlation between the utopian delusions
that occur in the story. Based on the results of the textual analysis, it was found that the utopian delu-
sion relation was found in three parts, including (1) the delusion of fidelity to tradition, (2) the delusion
of time, and (3) the delusion of utopia. The application of psychoanalytic theory will propose a differ-
ent point of view from previous studies which are still more focused only on the symbol-irony relation
of tradition. In fact, the conflict, setting, actions of the characters, and symbols in the story are related to
the human subconscious which requires perfection of action that results in delusions.

Keywords: delusion; utopia; psychoanalysis; tradition; time

Etymologically, utopia is a non-place (im- ized? Many argue that the literature is a serious
aginary) that is simultaneously formed by the projection of a better way of life or even a sat-
affirmation and rejection movements. Quoted ire that More deliberately presented an unclear
by Vieira, the concept of utopia was first put picture of the direction of European politics
forward by Sir Thomas More (1477 - 1535) in in the 15th century. More is also aware of the
the literature entitled Utopia, which was in- otherness that appears to be a strong basis for
spired by the story of the explorations carried legitimizing the discovery of the other space,
out by Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Co- namely with the other person, a different life
lumbus, and Angelo Poliziano, where the ex- order must be formed. Since this was a novel-
plorers discovered new places in various parts ty at the time, this new order required a new
of the world that had never been exposed be- word (Vieira, 2010). However, even though it
fore. More coined the word utopia from the is imaginary, according to Taylor, a utopian
Greek ou-topos which means no place or nowhere. order that exists in the midst of society can
These words are a play on words from the occur in disorders of disconnection. In disor-
Greek EU-topos which is almost identical in ders of disconnection, a person can be stated
meaning to good place. More's writings raised an to lack empathy and have a highly individualis-
important question in various circles at that tic attitude. This triggers a person to become
time: is it true that a perfect world can be real- overpowered and feel the most right. The per-
______________________________________

1 Faculty of Business and Social Science, Universitas Dian Nusantara, Jakarta, Indonesia. Email:
[email protected]
94 , Vol. 05, No. 02, October 2022: 67-119

son sees his existence to have unlimited power nalysis, resulting in his first major work enti-
and only serves hierarchical power (Taylor, tled The Interpretation of Dreams. Freud found in
2021). the case of narcissism, the id, ego, and supere-
Despite its imaginary nature, utopia has be- go emerge as the root cause of the problem.
come an idealism of perfection for various Freud's studies focus on the structural model
groups in living a life that is considered better. of the mind and the conflict between eros, the
In a utopian life, there is an expectation of a libido, the drive or instinct for life and self-
future vision that shows that life is not based preservation, and Thanatos (death). Miller also
on destiny alone, but on humans who deter- pointed out Lacan’s invention in The Invention
mine their own destiny (Vieira, 2010). A living of Delusion that delusions occur because of a
projection with a perfect vision of the future phenomenon that places a person in an alien-
can have consequences for its adherents. The ated condition, alienated with anxiety, and has
existence of an imminent attitude of profes- no roots in personality, awareness, and even
sionalism and not being able to accept differ- personal characteristics. If a person experienc-
ences or mistakes is a characteristic of one of es these delusional symptoms, his delusions
the utopian ideals. This symptom is also very will manifest as things he believes to be true
closely related to the symptoms of delusions. and may even influence his way of thinking.
One of the symptoms of delusion in question Delusions can be believed to be true, although
is the existence of a belief that is believed to this belief can be wrong and harm others. So-
be true, even though this belief can be wrong cial background, education, and culture can
and can harm others (Kiran, 2009). According also influence the development of delusions.
to Hossain, Carl Jung stated that there will People from lower social class backgrounds
always be a relationship between human be- and inadequate education can influence how
havior in myths and legends. This also ex- people think, which can also create a culture
plains that psychoanalysis has a mutual rela- or tradition based on subjective thinking. This
tionship with literary works. The problem of subjective way of thinking is also a result of
this utopian delusion, in fact, can also be the absence of the development of reason or
found and studied in various literary works logic. In other words, actions are taken only
(Hossain, 2017). based on what a person believes to be the
right action. As a result, the belief becomes
Psychoanalysis is a discipline branch that immanent in a person because the belief is
specifically examines the human psychic con- carried out of habit, and then there is a rejec-
dition, which was first coined by Sigmund tion of the work of reason or logic, and there
Freud (1856-1939). The influence of Freud at is a negative manifestation attitude (blaming
the beginning of the early 20th century on lit- or punishing someone) for the non-
erature and culture is hard to ignore. Although conformance of tradition to people who reject
in the early days of his career and his work the same belief. This subjective way of think-
drew a lot of criticism, Freud's findings in the ing is also a result of the absence of the devel-
field of psychoanalysis became the main basis opment of reason or logic. In other words,
that made psychoanalysis important to study actions are taken only based on what a person
and at the same time became a new method believes to be the right action. Miller also stat-
for analyzing the experience of human emo- ed that Carl Gustav Jung noted how delusion-
tions. One of the cornerstones of psychoanal- al people unhesitatingly project their own as-
ysis that he discovered is that a person can sumptions about hating or liking other people.
have self-assumptions, and these assumptions Self-reflection is considered not too important
can be split through the mind between the or even difficult, so most of them prefer to
conscious and the subconscious. Freud coined judge others without holding back. This action
the term psychoanalysis and began to study it without realizing it is a practice that only pro-
himself in 1897. In 1900, he began to develop jects and makes oneself a victim of mere illu-
various concepts and principles of psychoa-
 Sekartaji, Utopian Delusions in Shirley Jack-son’s The Lottery 95

sions. Jung also saw how delusional people ory approach, Chen presents the character
have an attitude of not taking into account Mrs. Hutchinson as a victim of cruel rituals
injustice, and they never consider the loss of due to the psychological conditions of the city
personal character. This action is used by oth- dwellers who have carried out the ritual of
er people who are deemed necessary to get the brutal primitive ceremonies for several generations.
injustice. Projection of assumptions, attitudes, Subsequent research has been carried out by
and values toward other people, apply if there Novalima Pradnya Paramitha, entitled Social
is a person or group of people who do not like Domination and Marginalization in Shirley Jackson's
other people, are considered to have negative The Lottery: Critical Discourse Analysis and Ap-
attitudes, or hold unwelcome values. With praisal Study. In her research, Paramitha uses
these projections, we are led to believe that critical discourse analysis theory related to the
the breakdown of personal relationships and study of metanarrative and scrutinizes the
the occurrence of havoc in society, is a reason concept of doxa and symbolic violence in the
to legitimize the unfair treatment of people story. She also examines how the relationship
who are hated or feared. Attitudes and actions between the use of diction in The Lottery is
like this are part of the foundation of the de- closely related to domination and acts of vio-
lusion of the perfection of a community (Mil- lence. The next research is conducted by Siqiu
ler, 2008). Long entitled Silence or Collusion, Civilization or
Since psychoanalysis has been applied to Barbarism: Collective Violence in “The Lottery” and
some literary works, several researchers have “The Knife Thrower”. Long compares the the-
also conducted The Lottery analysis using the matic similarities of violence that occur in the
psychoanalysis approach. Although there are two short stories that are correlated with the
quite a lot of analyzes with a psychoanalytic ritual attributes of a community's tradition.
approach, the focus of this research is differ- Contrasting with previous researchers, this
ent from the previous researchers. In research research focuses on the existence of utopian
written by Intan Siti Nugraha and Sutiono delusions and will prove that the delusional
Mahdi from Padjadjaran University, entitled attitude of utopia related to the manifestation
Transitivity System on Building Character of Mr. of the behavior of a community can occur in
Summers in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, they the midst of urban communities as well as the
examined the characterizations in the short practice of community traditions that should
story using the transitivity Systemic Functional not be reprehensible.
Linguistic (SFL) approach. The focus of this
research is on one of the characters, Mr. METHOD
Summers, and see the verbal use that con-
The method used in this research is de-
structs the characters. Further research by
scriptive qualitative. This method explains that
Essy Sham, entitled Symbol and Irony in Shirley
qualitative research is one of the research pro-
Jackson's The Lottery Short Story. In his research
cedures that produces descriptive data in the
Sham uses Jung's psychoanalytic theory ap-
form of speech or writing and the behavior of
proach for explaining the symbols and irony.
the people being observed. The qualitative
The purpose of this study is to determine the
approach is expected to be able to produce
relationship between symbols and irony that
descriptions of speech, writing, and or observ-
show ancient traditional practices that no
able behavior of a particular individual, group,
longer see family kinship or close people. The
community, and or organization in a particular
next study was carried out by Fuyu Chen enti-
context that is studied from a complete, com-
tled A Representative and a Scapegoat: Analysis of
prehensive, and holistic perspective. However,
Mrs. Hutchinson in The Lottery, in which the fo-
this research will not only be a descriptive ex-
cus is on the psychological condition of all the
planation but also answer the questions argu-
characters in the short story. Based on the re-
mentatively, based on the corpus, the formula-
sults of the study through a psychological the-
96 , Vol. 05, No. 02, October 2022: 67-119

tion of the problem, and the theoretical basis summer day; the flowers were blossom-
used (Creswell, 2007). ing profusely and the grass was richly
Additionally, the focus of this research is to green. The women, wearing faded house
see the relation and manifestation of how this dresses and sweaters, came shortly after
utopian delusion can occur. The first step is to their menfolk. They greeted one another
describe the background of the problem. The and exchanged bits of gossip as they
second step is to present evidence of the went to join their husbands. Soon the
problems that occurred. The data obtained women, standing by their husbands, be-
from words, phrases, sentences, and para- gan to call to their children, and the
graphs in the short story The Lottery by Shirley children came reluctantly, having to be
Jackson were studied using the psychoanalytic called four or five times. Bobby Martin
theory promoted by Carl Gustav Jung. ducked under his mother's grasping
hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile
of stones. His father spoke up sharply,
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION and Bobby came quickly and took his
In this section, the researcher will describe place between his father and his oldest
the results of the analysis of the psychoanalyt- brother (Jackson, 1995, p. 78)
ic theory approach in the form of data expo-
sure and its relationships that prove the exist- The quote describes how the women dress
ence of utopian delusions in the short story in simple clothes with gloomy colors. This is
The Lottery. in contrast to summer fashion in general,
where most people wear lighter colors and
Results lighter fabrics. However, women in the city
are described as wearing sweaters. In addition,
After doing the research, data showing the
it is also explained how the wives posit them-
relation of delusional utopia will be described
selves. When their husbands arrive and begin
in three parts, namely (1) Delusion of Faith-
to gather in the town square, the wives are
fulness to Tradition, (2) Delusion of Time,
depicted following their husbands and calling
and (3) Delusion of Utopia. The results of this
for the children as soon as possible. The posi-
analysis are described in detail in the discus-
tion of children, particularly sons, is between
sion subsection.
their father and older brother, whereas the
Discussion wives are right next to their respective hus-
bands.
Delusions of Faithfulness to Tradition There is also a supporting tool for drawing
According to Lacan, the existence of an the lottery. It is explained that it is very an-
imminent attitude toward the faithfulness of cient. This can be seen in how the tool's mate-
tradition is evidence of the occurrence of de- rial and the color of the wooden box used to
lusions of the perfection of a community (Mil- store the lottery are both faded.
ler, 2008). All actions taken must follow tradi-
tions that have been practiced for a long time There was a story that the present box
and must not be changed, whatever the rea- had been made with some pieces of the
son. The practice of behavior that must con- box that had preceded it, the one that
form to this tradition is described in the open- had been constructed when the first
ing story of The Lottery, where the women in people settled down to make a village
the city wear the same dress and position ac- here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr.
cording to the order of the family hierarchy Summers began talking again about a
before the lottery draw begins. new box, but every year the subject was
allowed to fade off without anything be-
The morning of June 27th was clear and ing done. The black box grew shabbier
sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-
 Sekartaji, Utopian Delusions in Shirley Jack-son’s The Lottery 97

each year: by now it was no longer com- One of the characters in the story, Mr. Ad-
pletely black but splintered badly along ams, explained to the city's elder, Old Man
one side to show the original wood col- Warner, that the tradition of drawing lotteries
or, and in some places faded or stained. is no longer practiced in some cities. Hearing
(Jackson, 1995, p. 79). this, Old Man Warner was furious and said it
would be foolish to give up the lottery draw-
The quote describes how a very old faded ing tradition. From the words of the city elder,
black wooden box is still used to maintain tra- it can be seen that the tradition of drawing the
dition. Suggestions for replacing the old box lottery is related to the welfare of the city and
are always put forward but never get a re- as a form of respect for their predecessors.
sponse. This incident demonstrates the atti- Old Man Warner believes that if the lottery
tude of the city's residents who try to preserve tradition is not carried out, the city will suffer
tradition even if it is in the form of material a catastrophe in the form of food shortages.
that is actually unsuitable for use. The black In other words, places that have abandoned
wooden box is the key to the center of rituals the lottery tradition are considered abnormal.
and traditions that must be followed, includ- The practice of this ancient tradition is other-
ing the town's oldest figures. This quote also wise considered normal.
demonstrates the practice of sticking to tradi- The ancient practices in the story prove the
tion as the key to controlling the community occurrence of delusional bonds due to an
and respecting the hierarchical power that has overestimation of traditional practices as well
existed for generations. Furthermore, the re- as a manifestation of a sense of being invaded
placement of the black wooden box appears by anxiety as proposed by Miller (Miller,
to imply a shift or even disloyalty of tradition. 2008). The townspeople are described as in-
sanely loyal to this tradition not because they
"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old
are happy doing it but because there is an
Man Warner, who stood next to him,
overlap in belief for generations; if they ignore
“that over in the north village they're
the tradition, it will bring death. They are
talking of giving up the lottery. "
ruled by anxiety, not by their logic, which
Old Man Warner snorted. “Pack of cra- makes them reluctant to leave or change the
zy fools,” he said. “Listening to the tradition. Being anxious equals acting not ac-
young folks, nothing's good enough for cording to tradition and that will bring pun-
them. Next thing you know, they'll be ishment and disaster. This evidence is in ac-
wanting to go back to living in caves, cordance with what was conveyed by Lacan
nobody work anymore, live that way for (Miller, 2008) that a delusional attitude indi-
a while. Used to be a saying about Lot- cates a rejection of the work of reason or log-
tery in June, corn be heavy soon. ' First ic, and a negative manifestation attitude,
thing you know, we'd all be eating namely blaming or punishing someone for a
stewed chickweed and acorns. There's non-conformity with tradition.
always been a lottery,” he added petu-
lantly. “Bad enough to see young Joe Delusion of Time
Summers up there joking with every- According to Lacan, as quoted by Miller,
body. " one of the symptoms of delusion is the pres-
“Some places have already quit lotter- ence of a state of alienation from things. Past,
ies,” Mrs. Adams said. present, and future are all seen as non-existent
times because they have no significance. The
“Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man
present, or now, is the time that seems to be
Warner said stoutly. “Pack of young
open. The past and future, on the other hand,
fools. (Jackson, 1995, p. 82)
are merely dimensions and are not actual (Mil-
ler, 2008). In The Lottery, it is highlighted that
98 , Vol. 05, No. 02, October 2022: 67-119

citizens have continually followed the lottery time, until now it was felt necessary only
custom in the time by their own definition. for the official to speak to each person
When the technical instructions for the lot- approaching. (Jackson, 1995, p. 80)
tery are being announced, most of the towns-
people at first do not even seem to care much Over time, there are some rules that are
because they already know exactly what steps completely followed by the residents, but
to take. However, what happens in that town there are also rules that they ignore. The com-
is that the time seems non-existent as they plex rules followed by the villagers show that
have been accustomed to the tradition along the lottery tradition is still an efficient logical
with its rules. They also do not count the time ritual with a crucial purpose, while the rules
because time has been frozen by centuries-old that are starting to be ignored indicate the
practice. It should be practiced and recognized form of ritual in this tradition has undergone
as such from generation to generation. This is many adjustments. The adjustment here is
why the townspeople have an indifferent atti- when Mr. Summers tries to maintain tradition
tude toward one another and pay no attention by following an elaborate system of rules for
to their surroundings; time does not exist for preparing lottery papers and compiling a list
them. They behave like robots and are uncon- of families in the village. As the lottery draw
cerned about reality. Despite hearing that an- begins, he explains a series of specific rules to
other town has abandoned the tradition, this the townspeople, including who has to take
town's residents see nothing significant in the paper from the black box and when they
abandoning the tradition. Nothing else mat- have to open it. When someone is unable to
ters because of the lottery. The townspeople take the lottery, there are rules about who
are trapped in the illusion of time, which iso- should be next in line. At the same time, there
lates them from others. are traditions that gradually fade until they are
completely abandoned by participants, such as
There was a great deal of fussing to be saluting and singing songs that accompany
done before Mr. Summers declared the Summer's lottery preparations, which are no
lottery open. There were the lists to longer practiced. In this case, Mr. Summers,
make up—of heads of families, heads of the lottery draw coordinator, is the only per-
households in each family, members of son who can decide when to do or not do the
each household in each family. There things listed in the lottery draw. He freezes time
was the proper swearing-in of Mr. for the townspeople in order to ensure that
Summers by the postmaster, as the offi- they follow the tradition.
cial of the lottery; at one time, some On the other hand, Old Man Warner’s
people remembered, there had been a character in The Lottery also emphatically states
recital of some sort, performed by the that he had carried out the lottery tradition
official of the lottery, a perfunctory, seventy-seventh times, the number of times Old
tuneless chant that had been rattled off Man Warner considers a reminder of how
duly each year; some people believed many times the lottery tradition has been and
that the official of the lottery used to will continue to be, not as a count of Old Man
stand just so when he said or sang it, Warner's age number, but as the time of oper-
others believed that he was supposed to ation for the lottery. He also explicitly said
walk among the people, but years and that the community that no longer practiced
years ago this part of the ritual had been the lottery tradition he considered as stupid
allowed to lapse. There had been, also, a people because those who decided not to
ritual salute, which the official of the lot- practice the lottery tradition were willing to
tery had had to use in addressing each accept a new perspective which he considered
person who came up to draw from the unnecessary for this city. This means they be-
box, but this also had changed with lieve the replacement of tradition is a manifes-
 Sekartaji, Utopian Delusions in Shirley Jack-son’s The Lottery 99

tation of their rejection of new things in their was ready; there were stones on the
lives, and they believe they will be weak as a ground with the blowing scraps of paper
result. They claim to reflect on the past, but that had come out of the box. Mrs. De-
this tradition seems to be able to stop time. lacroix selected a stone so large she had
The past is made like the present and that is the to pick it up with both hands and turned
truth by the townspeople’s definition. Chang- to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said.
ing traditions is unacceptable because it "Hurry up." (Jackson, 1995, p. 84)
equates to proclaiming to look to the future
and accept new views, thus, they always make The story shows that the children have col-
the past like the present. This evidence is in lected stones in the town square for the ston-
line with what Miller has proposed; the exist- ing tradition. Other children have made a
ence of a condition of alienation from things mound of stone in a corner where all the resi-
is one of the symptoms of delusion, according dents gathered. When the lottery is gotten by
to Lacan, quoted by Miller. Past, present, and one of the community members, each com-
future are all seen as non-existent munity member including children will auto-
times because they have no significance. The matically erase their empathy. Although family
present, or now, is the time that seems to be ties are an important aspect of the lottery tra-
open. The past and future, on the other hand, dition, each member can easily turn against
are merely dimensions and are not actual (Mil- another if one of them is chosen. The bitter
ler, 2008). fact of this tradition is that the implementa-
tion of the lottery tradition is based on family
Delusion of Utopia ties. They gather in certain groups in the town
square, following the patriarchal rules to de-
Utopia is a picture of a place where one termine who is obliged to take the paper from
community has similarities in terms of the so- the black box. Family ties in the lottery tradi-
cial order of life, including traditions, in order tion don’t exist any longer and those ties are
to guarantee a perfect life. In The Lottery, there quickly broken when it comes time to stone
is a tradition practiced as a manifestation of the target of the lottery’s persecution. When
the regularity of the order of life, in which Mrs. Hutchinson is found to have received the
every individual in the city is required to af- lottery, that is, a paper with a black circle, her
firm the tradition of the lottery; even though husband and three children no longer see her
the tradition would take one's life. Doubt as someone to be pitied, as the rest of the
about tradition is considered as an assumption townspeople do. At that moment, there was
of refusal not to do tradition anymore. In this no longer the figure of a wife or mother in
case, this attitude is seen as a threat to the sus- Mrs. Hutchinson. She has lost her identity and
tainability of a community and to hierarchical status. Mrs. Hutchinson is no longer part of
power (Thomas, 2012). the community because she is considered part
The social order in The Lottery has been of the tradition that needs to be sacrificed.
maneuvered and obliged for decades by plant- The stoning is led by the most powerful per-
ing traditional ideas for generations, and as a son in the community, Old Man Warner, who
result, they have already gained a deep under- makes sure the tradition will never be gone.
standing of the lottery tradition without look-
ing back or following any guidelines. Mrs. Hutchinson was in the center of a
cleared space by now, and she held her
"All right, folks," Mr. Summers said. hands out desperately as the villagers
“Let's finish quickly.” moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said.
Although the villagers had forgotten the A stone hit her on the side of the head.
ritual and lost the original black box, Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on,
they still remembered to use stones. The come on, everyone." Steve Adams was
pile of stones the boys had made earlier
100 , Vol. 05, No. 02, October 2022: 67-119

in the front of the crowd of villagers, Thomas, even though it is an imaginary, uto-
with Mrs. Graves beside him. pian order present in the midst of a society
that can bring disorders of disconnection,
"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs.
some people keep going on with this imagina-
Hutchinson screamed, and then they
tion (Thomas, 2012). Furthermore, in the
were upon her. (Jackson, 1995, p. 85)
practice of disorders of disconnection, a per-
In this story, Mrs. Hutchinson knows that son can become overpowered and feel the
she experiences injustice in the drawing of the most right. The person sees his or her exist-
lottery. Her opinion and her cry are not heard ence to have unlimited power and only serves
by the city's elders and other residents because hierarchical power. This condition is in ac-
self-reflection was considered a waste of time cordance with the phenomenon of restless
and against tradition. The townspeople in the city dwellers, who do not have the roots of
story refuse the term injustice because for them personality, awareness, or even personal char-
there is no such thing. Injustice is only an illu- acteristics, and believe that what they practice
sion of rejection of the rules of the traditional is right, even though these beliefs can harm
order that should be carried out. This practice others (Miller, 2008). The Lottery shows the
is equal to what Miller proposed that regard- delusion of utopia by creating the so-called
less of whether some people like or hate an- perfect society just because they keep the lot-
other person, people unreservedly project tery tradition where questioning the rules will
their own assumptions about them. Self- cause death. The delusion is imminent; some-
reflection is regarded as unimportant, even if thing that is strongly believed to be the truest.
it is troublesome and difficult, so most people It openly shows a rejection of the work of log-
prefer to judge others without reservation. ic and a negative manifestation attitude like
Without realizing it, this action is a practice blaming or punishing someone for non-
that only projects and makes one a victim of conformance with traditions.
mere illusions. Such people do not consider
injustice or the loss of personal character. CONCLUSION
Nevertheless, it is employed by others who are The Lottery by Shirley Jackson has provided
deemed necessary to correct the injustice. Pro- readers with the allegorical message of the sto-
jections of assumptions, attitudes, and values ry which states the truth about how old tradi-
onto others are likely if a person dislikes other tion could be strongly planted in someone’s
people or has negative attitudes, or holds un- mind. This story not just provides us with an
welcome values, such projections can harm eerie story but also how the consequences for
and cause havoc in society (Miller, 2008). This those who disobey tradition will lead to death.
assumption leads to believing that doing The story also shows the possibility of how
things unfair to the majority of people is an ancient practices might still be brought and
acceptable act because such attitudes and ac- practiced in today’s life as the most human
tions are part of the foundation of a society's dream of life’s perfection. In addition, the
delusion of perfection as what townspeople practice is considered the most suitable one to
do in The Lottery. maintain society’s order, and alienation from
Based on the lottery tradition in The Lottery, time is mandatory. Thus, this condition is
it can be inferred that the lottery is a medium linked to the delusion of utopia where perfec-
of delusion of utopia. The alienation of time tion is imaginary and unreasonable.
and place, as well as the faithfulness for the
unquestionable tradition, is considered perfec-
tion in handling the community. Although REFERENCES
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in society. In addition to the statement by
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