The Rejection of Absolute Truth

that he shows his anger when some of the characters talk about giving up the lottery which happens in the other village. His faithful toward the lottery means that the lottery is the truth for all the people in that village. He is angry because there is a conversation about giving up the lottery. As a person who joins the lottery for seventy-seventh time, he does not believe in other tradition as the truth to solve the problem in that village. The lottery is believed by all the characters in the story as a truth that can bring a big harvest. They agree to the fact that they should kill each other to fulfill the tradition. It can be seen in the quotation below People began to look around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quiet, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers, “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair’’ “Be a good sport, Tessie,” Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, “All of us took the same chance.” “Shut up, Tessie,” Bill Hutchinson said Jackson, 1988:152-153 It is clear to say that the lottery is the truth to solve the problem in that village because all the characters believe it will bring a big harvest to the village. Even Bill Hutchinson as the winner of the lottery does not try to refuse or fight it. What he does is warn her wife to stop and accept the fact. But it does not mean that Mrs. Hutchinson does not believe in the lottery, she only wants to restart the lottery for her families by taking her children to get their chance. “There’s Don and Eva,” Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. “Make them take their chance” Jackson, 1988:153. After the lottery restarted, the winner of the lottery has been decided. It is Mrs. Hutchinson who wins the lottery. As mentioned before people in that village believe that the lottery will bring a big harvest therefore they should kill Mrs. Hutchinson that is being far for humane. They seem really excited about it because finally they can fulfill the lottery. “All right, folks,” Mr. Summers said. “Let’s finish quickly.” Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up.” Mrs. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said, gasping for breath, “I can’t run at all. You’ll have to go ahead and I’ll catch up with you.” The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles. Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her Jackson, 1988:154. The characters’ attitude toward the lottery fits the idea of postmodernism about universal truth. Since postmodernism does not believe in universal truth, it tends to believe that truth and rationality are socially and discursively constructed as stated in the quotation bellow What is specially postmodernist, however, is not the critique of tradition itself-as well- but rather the more far-reaching claim and truth their validity and applicability are necessarily limited to their particular contexts or situations Mohanty, 1997:xi It is clear to say that the lottery is the truth which is believed by all the villagers in the story. The lottery as the tradition is socially and discursively constructed by all the villagers in that village. They follow the tradition which makes them should kill each other for a sake of big harvest. They do not try to refuse or disagree because they think that something logic in that situation PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI is big harvest can come if they fulfill the lottery. Validity and applicability of the lottery are confined to particular contexts Villagers in the story or the situations the belief of big harvest. Because of that they believe in the lottery that is far from universal value about being humane. They reject that universal value because the lottery is the truth for that village because it is socially and discursively constructed by the villagers in that village. As we know from the Lottery that there is no body who tries to protest or run away from the lottery. They all come to the square and do the lottery. As the winner is decided they have no worries to kill himher because the belief that the lottery will bring a big harvest that far for universal value about humane.

2. Irony

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. It is the one of the idea that postmodernism simply believe in irony to achieve their goal. In the lottery, the characters show the irony behind their attitude. The friendliness between Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Hutchinson change when the winner of the lottery is determined. Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of crowd. “Clean forgot what day it was,” she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. “Thought my old man was out back stacking wood,” Mrs. Hutchinson went on, “and then looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty- seventh and came a- running.” She dried her hands on her apron, and Mrs. Delacroix said, “You’re in time, though. They’re still talking away up there Jackson, 1988:150. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI In that quotation the writer may say that Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Hutchinson has a good relationship. They joke around and give some small talk. But behind their talk, they still believe in the lottery. They think that the lottery will bring a big harvest to their village; therefore, they join up the lottery. But this good relationship change after Mrs. Delacroix knows the “winner”. “Be a good sport, Tessie,” Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mr. Graves said, “All of us took the same chance” Jackson, 1988:152-153. It’s not the only prove that Mrs. Delacroix attitude changes as you can see in this quotation, “Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up” Jackson, 1988:154. Brand Nicol in his book stated that Irony in the postmodernism is “therefore not just cynical, not just a way of making fun of the world. It demonstrates a knowingness about how reality is ideologically constructed” Nicol, 2002:13. It is clear that her knowingness about the lottery makes Mrs. Delacroix kill Mrs. Hutchinson because as mentioned before the lottery is ideologically constructed by all the people in that village to gain happiness. The person that shows his belief in the lottery can be seen in Old Man Warner. Old Man War ner snorted. “Pack of crazy fools,” he said. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI chickweed an acorns. There’s always been lottery,” he added petulantly. “Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody” Jackson, 1988:152 He believes that the lottery is a must to everybody. The same as the other characters, Old Man Warner also believes that the lottery will bring a big harvest to his village. He already joined up the lottery for “Seventy-seventh year” Jackson, 1988:152 even if he should kill the one who gets the lot. This means that the irony as the idea of postmodernism shows up because it says that “since few people trust their convictions or believe the world can change for better, irony is the only option” Ward, 2010: 9. The Goal is to achieve a big harvest and the irony here is he has to follow the lottery even if he should kill his neighbor. Another irony can be seen also in the children’s attitude. Before the lottery drawing 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 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 It seems there is nothing going to happen in that situation. The children are just doing their activity as usual because at that time was a full-summer day. They only follow their parents to the lottery day. Friendliness between others PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI