An individual’s mental fortitude is always tested in the face of threatening situations. These are moments that are potentially harmful to the individual. It is an individual’s uncontrolled fear in such a situation that can hinder their mental strength and cause the individual to mentally breakdown. This process is seen in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” through Tessie’s reactions to the human sacrifice ritual. In the short story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson portrays the idea that when an individual experiences a threatening situation, they may enter a state of mental chaos through their various attempts at trying to suppress their fear, which will ultimately devolve into utter denial once their worst fears become a reality.

 

Tessie attempts to cope with her fear of her name being picked in the lottery through humorous remarks in masking her internal fear. Initially, her fear is shown when she says, “Clean forgot what day it was today”, then followed up with soft laughter (Jackson 18). The gravity of the situation is not lost on Tessie: she knows the outcome of the lottery determines whether she will live, but must cope with it somehow. Forgetting the day is nearly impossible for Tessie, as the outcome of this day has major implications on Tessie’s life. Following this with a laugh proves that the nature of the above comment was to serve as a sort of joke to lighten the mood. Tessie’s state of fear is revealed through her persistent attempt to mask her fear. Humour is not appropriate given the circumstances. Humour also serves another purpose: comfort. Her attempt to seek comfort through humour is demonstrated when she laughs softly with a woman nearby. Ironically, the very people that Tessie is attempting to connect to may just be the ones who will kill her. Individuals will end up having illogical reactions when facing situations that are perceived to be threatening due to the underlying fear that they must cope with. Overall, this is not sustainable, as this method is far too passive in dealing with the situation. Eventually, humour and the associated comfort that come with it are not enough to help cope with fear, and the individual is forced for more explosive methods of dealing with fear.

 

Tessie turns to explosive rage when panic fills her since she is no longer able to suppress and mask her feelings of fear. This is demonstrated when all of a sudden Tessie shouts at Mr. Summers,“ You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair.”. Tessie begins to make excuses in order to change the situation in her favour since she knows her life has now become even more at risk now that the odds of her being picked increases. Humour no longer comforts her, and thus her paranoia over the lottery being fixed spikes. Evidence for this is that the amount of time taken to pick a paper should not matter since it is done at random; thus, her reasoning is invalid and illogical. She allows herself to be illogical since the ignorance of logic has become a way for her to keep her fear at bay. Notably, Tessie has sparked up by exploding at Mr. Summers after finding out her family was picked indicating that she is no longer able to control the panic bottled within her because the situation increased in intensity. Her paranoia extends to a level where she embarrasses her family and Bill, her husband, tells her to “Shut up”(Jackson 19). Bill is in the same situation as Tessie, but even he does not give consideration to Tessie’s claims. It’s Tessie’s overriding fear of being picked in the lottery that motivates her to actively try to avoid her greatest fear: being picked, which would signify death. This indicates that when individuals continue to get closer to the threatening situation their response changes and they take more of an active role in their situation. From this, Tessie’s state continues to develop and worsen causing a psychological meltdown, culminating in a complete loss of logic when her greatest fear becomes a certainty.

When an individual’s greatest fears of a threatening situation prove true, they lose their sense of reality and will go into a phase of continual denial. Tessie is in this situation at the end of the story when she is picked by the lottery system and is standing arms wide and says “ It isn’t fair. It isn’t right.” (Jackson 20). Tessie challenges the entire lottery system and attempts to convince the crowd to stop doing this because it is unethical. Based on the crowd’s attitude towards the lottery, this is a custom that has been practiced for quite a while.  Her statement is very illogical because for many years she had been participating in the lottery and not until she is picked does she voice the issue of fairness and ethics involved in the system. This is a demonstration of sheer denial of her fate, which was brought about after the very thing she feared most came true. At this point, her fear cannot be subdued. Tessie takes on a position of desperation when she is standing arms wide because it shows that she is pleading for them to listen to her as her last chance at survival. This act is characterized by its futility – there is nothing Tessie can do to avoid the fate that was chosen for her.  The people who are tasked with killing Tessie are the same people Tessie sought comfort from through the formation of connections when she first arrived. An individual will often feel powerless against the very thing that feeds their fear, much like how Tessie only thinks to beg the townsfolk to not kill her.

A fearful individual’s reaction to a threatening situation will be to deal with the situation in a passive manner, which will progressively become more active; when the individual’s worst fear becomes a reality, they will be overcome by a feeling of powerlessness. This progression can be seen in Tessie’s character as she first attempts to use humor to keep her fear in check, and then gives in to her paranoia when her family is picked. Ultimately, Tessie is left begging for her life after her name is picked. The shift in Tessie’s reaction to the possibility of being picked in the lottery can be generally seen in individuals, as an individual will become more and more active in trying to change the outcome of a threatening situation the more likely it is that their fear comes true. As such, it can be seen that coping with fear by preventing it from becoming a reality is not entirely plausible in the event that it does occur. Instead, an individual must deal with their fear directly – in Tessie’s case, this means challenging a system that has become enshrined in her town’s culture.