The Most Fair Unfairness (Point of View)

" 'It wasn't fair' Tessie said. " - pg 269

The concept of fairness is the main topic examined in the short story "The Lottery". Since the catch in the plot doesn't occur until the very end -where Tessie is stoned- the story seems very normal, and even boring. The process of organizing the lottery is very methodical, and clearly built on many years of tradition. Old Man Warner, the largest proponent for the lottery's continuation, claims this was his seventy seventh year of participating in the lottery. People are excited, children are present, everything seems normal. Until a woman is killed. By the time I finished the story, there were two things that immediately made me protest (besides the obvious).

The first was the irony of so fairly choosing a victim for an unfair death. The second was how no one even thought to question the fairness of the fate that the lottery's victim had to face. This is where point of view came into action. The thoughts or opinions of one particular character were never thoroughly elaborated upon. A few characters, such as Old Man Warner and Tessie Hutchinson, were narrowed in one to provide general opinions, but they represented the attitude of the whole congregation and only helped specify that attitude. The point of view was of an entire town completing one act in unison and agreement. This point of view was unique, and slightly disturbing. It created the possibility that when people are in such agreement, they can make the most unfair slaughter seem normal.