The Evil of Humanity in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and “The Summer People”

Abstract

Centered around the evil of humanity concerning backward customs, this paper analyze the indifference and hypocrisy among villagers and even their relatives, as well as their blind adherence to tradition. Base on the previous researches, the further scrutiny of the characters both in “The Lottery” and “The Summer People” by Shirley Jackson provide us with profound reflections. Through the dramatic events of senseless violence and behavior in people’s own lives, Jackson’s stories urge people to reflect on the ugliness of humanity described by the writer, and appeal to people in contemporary society to abandon bad customs so as to transform the evil of humanity into the good of humanity for we should live in a civilized and democratic society.