chance to draw the lot. “There’s Don and Eva,” Mrs. Hutchinson yelled.
“Make them take their chance” Jackson, 1988:153. It also makes Mrs. Hutchinson shows that she is scared to accept the decision. It shows different
attitude from her due to the fact that at the beginning she seems very excited about the lottery as mentioned in this quotation “Get up there, Bill,” Mrs.
Hutchinson said, and the people near laughed” Jackson, 1988:152. She tries to give a support when her husband has his turn to take the lot. On the other
hand, Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Graves really hate the fact that Mrs. Hutchinson thinks that the lot for their family is not fair. “Be a good sport,
Tessie,” Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, “All of us took the same chance” Jackson, 1988:152-153.
It seems that the attitudes from the characters toward the lottery do not change. They still show their faith toward the lottery. It seems like the lottery
is ritual that should be obeyed. It is shown by the attitudes of Old Man Warner when he gets angry after listening to some folk wanting to give up the
lottery. On the other hand, Mrs. Hutchinson does not like it when she knows that her husband is the winner. She thinks that her family does not get enough
time to pick the lot. The faithful towards the lottery reveals that Mrs. Hutchinson does not worry about the lottery. She only refuses the way of the
lot to her families and thinks that the lottery should be restarted for her families. Even though, she should make all her children to be counted in the
lottery. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
3. The Attitudes of the Characters in the Climax
After knowing the fact that Bill Hutchinson is the winner of the lot, Mrs. Hutchinson thinks that the lottery should be restarted. Nancy and Bill
who get their chance feel really happy when they know that they are not the winner of the lottery. “Nancy and Bill, Jr., opened theirs at the same time, and
both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads” Jackson, 1988:154. Those show that they do not
regret for missing the chance to win the lottery. As the lottery restarts, Mrs. Hutchinson has become the winner of the
lottery. “It’s Tessie,” Mr. Summers said, and his voice was hushed. “Show us
her paper, Bill.” Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of
her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal-company office
Jackson, 1988:154.
The statements above also show their faith toward the lottery because they seem to not worry about Mrs. Hutchinson anymore, even Bill Hutchinson as
her husband. They only want to finish the lottery so they can get a big harvest in that day.
4. The Attitudes of the Characters in the Conclusion
After people know that Mrs. Hutchinson is the person that gets the lot, their attitude is totally changing. There is no more friendliness in there. They
seem to be really excited to kill somebody to fulfill the lottery. It is shown by PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Mrs. Delacroix who has a good relationship with Mrs. Hutchinson before the lottery start. Instead of helping her friend, she begins to select a large stone to
be used. It is stated that “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.
A good relationship between people in that village has gone after the lottery drawing. Mrs. Hutchinson also keeps saying that everything happens
here is not fair. “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and they were upon her” Jackson, 1988:154. All people including her family
begin to throw some stones into her without any doubt. It seems that Old Man Warner is really excited when the lottery finds
the winner. He asks everybody to stone the winner. Old Man Warner is saying “Come on, come on, everyone” Jackson, 1988:154. It makes a clear
attitude of Old Man Warner that he believes in the lottery because it can make his village get a big harvest. However, their faith toward the lottery still do
not change at all. They still believe in the lottery because they kill Mrs. Hutchinson anyway to gain their purpose.
After the analysis on the attitude of characters toward the lottery which is revealed from the plot has been done, the result of the analysis shows that
the characters’ attitude has several points that can be stated as reflection of the idea of postmodernism. The first attitude toward the lottery can be said
that the characters believe in truth and rationality is socially and discursively constructed. The second attitude from the characters toward the lottery is
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
