Change is on the horizon. Human civilization cannot continue to exist under the rules of capitalism. Literature is how a civilization describes itself and there are three works that can be used to illustrate not only where we are, but also where we must go. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax” are all from different literary genres, different time periods, and are written in different styles, yet they all can be used to describe today’s present and future.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” can be characterized as an accurate analysis of that special brand of capitalism called American. Although many other readers and writers alike have characterized the short story as being reflective of the atrocities of the Holocaust, one can take the story to be a reflection of the darker side of capitalism and the body politic’s obliviousness to it. In the story, one can look at the village as America and the lottery as the American system of capitalism. Where as one may look at American capitalism as a system that reinforces the will of the few as dichotomized against the will of the many, another may look at the system having it’s own will. In the story one person has to win (or lose, depending on how you look at it) and the rest of the community supposedly benefits (as shown by old man Warner’s quote “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.”) (Jackson). The losers of the lottery in the story can be seen as an ever shifting group of losers and future potential winners (a probability if you will), and the winner can be seen as the result of this (probability) function collapsing and giving its result. Where one would think that the main mechanisms of American capitalism function to keep those in power (i.e. the losers of the lottery) in power (i.e. perpetual losers of the lottery) I am arguing that the inherent will of American capitalism is to keep some entity in power perpetually, where that entities status as “having power” is not only fully transferable but is constantly being transferred time and time again.
The story itself is centered around a small village in what seems to be circa 1910-1920. In the story all of the villagers are gathering around in the town square for “The Lottery”. Right away the reader is faced with small but telling signs that the lottery is not what it seems. The young boys are collecting piles of rocks in different parts of the square and the little girls do not seem too pleased that today is the day for “The Lottery”. Throughout the story the rituals, both forgotten and remembered, are described in such a way that it seems as though the villagers don’t know why they do them, but that they must be done. This is allegorical to American capitalism in that all Americans must play the game the same way as everyone else has played it, is playing it, and will lay it. Even with the minor changes the game must go on. In American society you must go to school, k-12, and then you must go to college, and then you must get a job that pays as much money as possible. This is the way that the American system is presented. If one does not follow these guidelines, one cannot be successful (or have heavy corn after the harvest as is the case in “The Lottery”). In addition the villagers implicit need for the status quo to remain (i.e. using pieces form the old box to make the new box) can be characterized by the American body politic’s assertion that the more rigidly one follows the dogma of the system the better the system will work for them (i.e. old man Warner’s comment).
Another allegory can be found in the villager’s lightheartedness during the lottery. Jackson gives portrays the idea that this is just another part of life in the town and that no one really thinks that they will be the big winner. None of the characters really give hint to the macabre actions that are not only going to take place, but that have been prepared for so meticulously. They are about to stone someone from their own ranks yet none of them seems like this fazes them. The allegory can be seen in the way that the American body politic acts in concert to perpetuate the system of American capitalism knowing that the system itself and by it’s own nature creates a strata of social classes the lower of which could be called societies losers and the lottery’s winners. Tessie Hutchinson could be viewed as the proverbial proletariat. Whereas she was just as eager to be a part of the lottery as everyone else until it looked like she may be the one that won that day. This can be seen in American society in the way that an executive of a major company may want to be a part of the system that perpetuates someone being poor until his company goes belly up and all of the wealth that he thought that he had disappears, thus making him poor and the winner of the lottery. The logic behind the lottery and American capitalism is the same. There must be a loser of the economic game and a winner of the lottery.
When Tessie sees that it is bill that has pulled the omen-serving piece of paper, she begins to try and find ways out. She even goes as far as to try and bring her own daughter into the drawing so that she will have a better chance of living herself. This seems inconceivable in contemporary human society, but if examined closely, one can see that this allegory is not so far off. In examining American capitalism, citizens are rated by society as to how well they adhere to the systems dogma and this in turn is measured by ones success within the system. As examined earlier the executive, that perpetuates the system that ranks him higher socially than others that have not been served as well by the system, would not hesitate to fire employees, legally avoid payment of debts and the like in order to preserve his place in the hierarchy. But by firing and avoiding payment, isn’t the executive relegating other parts of his corporate “family” to lower economic levels of society. These people that are relegated to the lower levels, couldn’t they be considered to be the winners of the lottery.
“The Lottery’s” dark and morbid storyline, I think, is meant to leave one thinking about how this work applies to many levels and areas of society and the human psyche. Although my take on the work is one of a socio-economic theme, there are other ways to interpret the work. The points that I have outlined here are just a few major points intertwining the story of a small village with peculiar customs and the panoramic view that one can gain by stepping back and examining their society in a way that is critical and ultimately unforgiving.
Similar to the theme of “The Lottery” is the William Butler Yeats poem, “The Second Coming”. Yeats wrote “The Second Coming” in response to the failing class system of industrial era Britain. But, the poem could be seen to model the fall of many types of social systems that exist all over the world especially capitalism and its unavoidable decline.
Because of Yeats’ intended poetic response to the fall of Britain’s class system, the poem is fraught with the imagery of a failing system. The beginning of the poem starts,
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity (Yeats).
This can be seen, as we know Yeats’ intentions, to be speaking of the fall of the British class system, but one could also view this passage as alluding to the fall of capitalism. As seen in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, capitalism cannot go on forever. In her story it would not be out of the question for a “winner” of the lottery to not want to be stoned to death and run away or resist in some way. Once one person resists it would become easier for another to follow suit. The same goes for capitalism. Capitalist systems around the world had to deal with the communist revolutions that happened around the world in the mid-twentieth century because the innate human need to not “win” the lottery. As the fall of the class systems of Europe spread across the land, so did communism (the antithesis of capitalism) thirty years later.
Yeats’ poem can be seen, especially in the first part, to be speaking about the end of capitalism. The lines “Things fall apart, The centre cannot hold, Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” was specifically speaking about the inability of the system to survive ad infinitum (Yeats). This is true of all systems. The center truly can never hold forever. Just as the class system of industrial era Britain went, so must the capitalist system of the information age go.
From the stand point of Yeats, anarchy would logically follow the end of the ruling class system of Europe. In his opinion anarchy was the only alternative. If viewed as a challenge to the current shift in the global capitalist system, it would seem that “The Second Coming” is Yeats’ challenge to the shift in sensibilities across the world that has been ushered in, in part, by the internet and its provision of free and unfettered access to information. Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other free social and information sharing networks are changing the rules of this capitalist system. No longer are the keys to change held in the hands of the rich and the powerful. Today we are seeing the beginnings of a revolution. Without the help of major corporations, anyone can reach a global audience. The grassroots are being watered with the elixir of freedom. If one had to say whether Yeats would have had a Myspace, just from the information gleaned from this poem about his sensibilities, one could safely say no.
Yeats’ poem gives the impression that a new age is upon us. As he wrote “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”, he was saying that this age is at an end, and we must wonder what new beast is upon us (Yeats).
Separately, Dr. Suess’s work, “The Lorax”, is aimed at describing capitalism’s destruction of the environment. The Once-ler in the story can be said to take the guise of big business. As with Yeats’ “The Second Coming” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, “The Lorax” can be read in such a way that it describes a particular aspect of the world today.
“The Lorax” can be applied to the current green movement taking shape across the world. Although “The Lorax” was published in 1971, the ecological problems that plagued the world then still exist now. The current shift in the capitalist framework of society has allowed for the Lorax’s message to reach people in a much more profound way. The message of conservation delivered by “The Lorax” is finally being read. Conservation and efficiency are now the themes of the day. Society fears being the Once-ler; telling our story of regret and hoping for an unlikely yet better tomorrow. Society wants and understands the need for the Lorax to stay.
The three works analyzed here would not normally be juxtaposed against each other. All three have different themes. But the similarity that they all share is an applicability of their message to current issues. “The Lottery” asks us to, examine our insistence on participating in the current capitalist system. Why do we participate in this system of capitalism that perpetuates unreserved affluence for the upper class in exchange for the sheer poverty of the lower class? Does a person really need a 10,000 square foot home, while there are homeless masses roaming the streets? Does American capitalism even give that kind of prosperity to all that adhere closely to its tenets?
“The Second Coming” speaks of the end of that capitalist system and to the fear that many have of the system that will inevitably come to replace it. As the “blood dimmed tide” rolls in and ushers in a new age for which there is no name yet, how will society cope (Yeats). The system is not being forcibly changed, but is falling away revealing a new and shining system built for a new age.
“The Lorax” comments on the destructive nature of our current system. Destruction cannot go on forever, as the Once-ler learned. “The Lorax” is an example of how the current system cannot go on forever and highlights the theme of “The Second Coming”. Also “The Lorax” highlights the dangers that society faces as this new age is ushered in. The system will change; we must decide to change with it.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming”, and Dr. Suess’s “The Lorax” are all true to the overarching theme of today. Change is on the horizon and its coming cannot be stopped.
Works Cited
Gwynn, R.S. Literature: A Pocket Anthology. New York, NY: Penguin
Academics, 2006.
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