Indiana Jones discusses two of Jackson's works in terms of their background and their similarities.
Why do you think Shirley Jackson wrote about the things that she did, and why do you think all of her stories have a similar morbid nature? Think about it for next class; I have to go look for mummies. I mean... I have to grade papers. Good luck, and feel free to use my response to help you in your studies.
Until next class,
-Indy
Shirley Jackson’s morbid works show characters who lust for blood. Many have criticized Jackson’s psychotic characters and outrageous plot twists, because they explicitly show seemingly ordinary people developing psychosis and killing senselessly (Murphy). Because Jackson saw her own society’s madness and channeled it into her writing, readers must not misinterpret her works as pointless, disturbingly ironic, but ultimately cheap, thrills. Instead, the reader must understand the parallels between Jackson’s work and her life. She lived when the feminist movement welcomed a surge of women’s rights groups protesting. Prominent women thinkers like Betty Friedan were confidently speaking their opinions, and uncertainty filled the air when people and their older traditions parted ways (Hague). The unsettling scenarios in “Just a Thought” and “The Lottery” reflect Jackson’s interpretation of her tumultuous time, and how social neglect and backwardness produce horrific results if left to their own devices.
Jackson’s restless scenarios and her dynamic characters demonstrate how following tradition blindly makes people mentally ill. Both stories present societal tradition overcoming love-able characters’ identities. This bored anxiousness causes them to make unexpected decisions. In “The Lottery,” The reader initially trusts a community leader who is affectionately described as leading local dances and social events. The reader finds out later that the man leads a drawing, or lottery system, that randomly decides to kill a village member. In “Just a Thought,” Margaret is a loyal housewife who loves and respects her kind husband. However, surprise overcomes the reader when Margaret beats her husband with an ashtray and makes elaborate plans to kill him. Margaret and the village people in “The Lottery” are very similarly isolated. Margaret has not had a chance to independently live, and her restlessness becomes emptiness. Her husband controls her and brainwashes her to appreciate and respect him, and Margaret’s only outlet is looking forward to going to “the movies.” Although she supposedly loves her husband, he is robbing her of a meaningful life. The villagers are similarly brainwashed. Because they have no contact with the outside world, their lack of entertainment and purpose causes anxiety. They cope by perverting their mundane traditions into harmful atrocities in an effort to find meaning in their meaningless lives. Using Margaret’s and the village people’s example, Jackson shows how following tradition blindly leads to insanity.
However, the motivation for Jackson’s characters’ insanity varies in the two stories. “Just a Thought” comments on old-fashioned ideas regarding the role of women in society, while lethal archaic tradition controls the people in “The Lottery.” Also, “The Lottery” a group's reaction to loneliness, and “Just a Thought” shows the perspective of one individual. In “Just a Thought,” Margaret stays at home and is expected to act like a submissive housewife. She is by herself for long periods of time, and her isolation makes her more vulnerable to insane and aggressive thoughts. Like Margaret, the village people allow their solitude to let insanity corner them. The Villagers long to be free from the anxiety of playing their game similarly to how Margaret wants to separate with her husband .
It makes sense that Jackson wrote in a time referred to as the “Age of Anxiety (Hague).” Jackson took on greater meaning when the women’s rights movement was blossoming after the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. According to Friedan, women who worked only at home were sequestered into a lonely world. Women lost touch with their sense of reality and identity. Because of this, women during this time period are described as feeling “empty” or were said to have a condition that was undefined or that “had no name.” This certainly runs parallel with Margaret’s domestic situation and even with the situation of the villagers.
All of Jackson’s works are obviously united by the time period they were written in, and Jackson expresses her opinions about the time she lived in through her work. Emptiness is a common theme in all of her work and defines her strongest character’s meaning (Hague). These characters feel “empty” enough to let social norm and tradition push them into harming each other. This unique emptiness, shown through her stories, teaches how lack of action is more evil than obvious wrong doing, and how mistreatment and isolation can cause psychological disturbance in even the healthiest appearing people.
Works Cited
Hague, Angela. “A Faithful Anatomy of Our Times”: Reassessing Shirley Jackson.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 26.2 (2005): 73-96. Print.
Murphy, Bernice M. Shirley Jackson: Essays on the Literary Legacy. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2005. Print.
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