validity and applicability of the lottery is confined to the particular context or situations. The last attitude toward the lottery which can be pointed is the
characters believe in the lottery can bring happiness to their village even if they have to kill the winner in the lottery as a denial to any rational thinking
in the human situation.
C. The Idea of Postmodernism as seen through the Characters’ Attitudes
In Jackson’s “T
he Lottery
”, there are different kinds of attitude which were shown by all the characters in the story. The characters show that the lottery
should be followed by all people in there. They never think what would happen to them. They only think that they will get a big harvest after doing the lottery even
if they should sacrifice one of their people. This undergraduate thesis aims to know the idea of postmodernism based on the attitudes’ of the characters toward
the lottery. Postmodernism is used widely in many fields: arts, politics, philosophy,
literature, music, pop culture, etc Featherstone, 2001: 3-4. Postmodern literature is characterized by many things such as reliance on narrative techniques like
paradox or fragmentation; the following are seen specifically in the Lottery. The characters in the story have their own attitudes toward the lottery. They follow the
tradition which is far away from human logic. These attitudes lead us to what postmodernist’s think. “Postmodernism emerged as the reaction against the
established forms of high modernism. The key point to the spirit of postmodernism is the reaction against anything modernly organized” Jameson in
Kaplan 1988:18. It is obvious that the attitudes’ from the characters is one of the ideas of postmodernism. They do not think logical or use any reason to do the
lottery. They seem to not care anymore about the reason behind the lottery. Their faith toward the lottery as the attitude of the characters in the story
also leads to the irony. Their attitudes show that they even do not know what would happen to them by doing the lottery. They still joke around and do their
activity without any doubt. In fact, they also know that they will lose one of their neighbors even their family. In this case, there is a possibility that the attitudes
from the characters show the idea of postmodernism. Postmodernism “insists on ‘self-conscious, self-contradictory, self-undermining statement’. Since few people
trust their convictions or believe the world can change for better, irony is the only option” Ward, 2010:9. In the following part of analysis, the writer will give an
explanation on each of the ideas, and the discussion of choosing it as the point of postmodernism. Moreover there wi
ll be an explanation about how the characters’ attitudes reflect the idea of postmodernism.
1. The Rejection of Absolute Truth
The Characters’ attitude in the lottery believes that the lottery can bring a big harvest to their village. The lottery as the tradition is the truth which is
something that should be followed by all the villagers as can be seen in this quotation
The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they
tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher,
of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie
Delacroix- the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”-eventually
made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys. The girls stood aside, talking among
themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys, and the very small children rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of older brothers or
sisters. Jackson, 1988:149
As stated in that quotation, the children show that they believe in the lottery as the truth. They also see that the lottery should be done because they believe
that it will bring a big harvest to the village even though they know that the lottery ends up with killing each other.
Like the children, all the parents also come to square to join the lottery. There are small talk about planting and rain, tractors and taxes.
Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the
pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. Jackson, 1988:149
They still can joke around with other even though their jokes are quiet and only smile rather than laugh. In the other hand, Mrs. Hutchinson who comes
late to the lottery seems really excited to do the lottery. As stated in the previous subject, her faithful toward the lottery makes her come to the square
even though she comes late. Her faithful toward the lottery is based on the other people who gather around to the square to join the lottery. As
mentioned before, all the villagers know that the lottery will end up with killing each other because the lottery will bring a big harvest. The lottery is
the truth which is believed by all the characters in that story. The lottery as the truth in that village can be seen also in the attitude of
Old Man Warner which shows his faithful toward the lottery. It is mentioned PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
