In your question regarding Shirley Jackson's short story,
"The Lottery," I do not believe that one of its themes is good vs evil. I believe this
because the society does not see it in terms of a punishment. Tessie is not chosen
intentionally. The stoning in the story is a time-honored—very
old—tradition that this town has been carrying on since the village was first
settled.
It is a way of life here. In order for it to be
good or bad, I believe it would have to threaten or challenge the laws of the society of
which it is a part. Or it would have to be contrary to the beliefs of the community. The
only person who has a problem with it is Tessie, which is understandable as she is the
one who will die.
There may be a
symbolic message in the story regarding the apathy and general compliance of people who
will follow as they are led without speaking up; we may see the practice like the
behavior of sheep following their shepherd blindly. However, if the society does not
regard this as something evil, and since the society is not divided in how it sees the
lottery, I do not believe that socially or morally the town perceives the practice as a
conflict between good and evil: that perception never comes into play
here.
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