Theme of Peer Pressure in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Killing an Elephant by George Orwell Essay Example

Throughout time humans have been social creatures. We’ve always had the need to be ‘liked’ by one another. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Killing an elephant” by George Orwell are two stories that perfectly encapsulate the social need to be liked... In “The Lottery”, an annual event takes place where some of the townspeople in a town are selected to be stoned. In the story there is never a line saying why the lottery takes place; it just simply does. There is no rhyme or reason for the lottery, but it still takes place merely because society has just accepted it. Similarly in “Killing an elephant”, the narrator is tasked with killing this loose wild elephant. In the end, he finds the elephant and reasons out that he should not kill the elephant, there are many reasons for him not to do so (such as elephants are expensive, he doesn’t want to unnecessarily kill a live animal, etc). This said, he is pressured by bystanders watching the event to kill the elephant. Both stories have lots to do with peer pressure. In “Killing an elephant”, it’s a lot more direct. The bystanders are literally taunting and jeering at the narrator to kill the wild elephant. In “The Lottery”, the peer pressure isn’t quite as obvious. The townspeople partake in the lottery merely because they expect each other to do so. They feel that if they rebel against the lottery, they will be outcasted from society, even when there are no direct consequences for going against the lottery. The only reason they do it is because of the social expectations set amongst themselves. 

“Because so much of the ritual [the lottery] had been forgotten…” I feel that this text is important because it shows how nonchalant and casual they are about the ritual. So casual that they forgot a lot about the ritual. This would mean that there are no real rules about the ritual. The only reason why they even still bother doing the lottery is because it’s what they expect from each other. “Spend his life impressing natives…” “But I did not want to shoot the elephant” “The crowd would laugh at me. And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at”. The narrator knows that not shooting the elephant is the “wise” decision. That said the crowd directly influences his decision and hinders him from making the correct decision.

“‘Some places have already quit the lotteries.’ ‘Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man Warner said stoutly. “Pack of young fools”. The lottery is symbolic of how society can go through mind-numbing trends or traditions without ever questioning them. In the lottery, the townspeople never ever question why they partake in the lottery. A great example of this would be old man Warner. He has been partaking in the lottery for 77 years and doesn’t like the idea of change. He never once in his 77 years of doing the lottery questioned anything about the lottery. “Mrs. Hutchinson who had been waiting cheerfully…” “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right!” The lottery also uses irony to mock how society is easy to sit in the shadows and do nothing, but then act as if the system is unfair when they are the ones who are being treated unfairly. The lady was incredibly quick to call everyone out and lead the lottery. This suddenly changes when suddenly she is the one who is being punished by the lottery. It’s ironic to think that she was so eager to “run the show”, until she’s up on the chopping block.

“Faces all happy and excited over this bit of fun, all that certain that this elephant was going to be shot” The narrator bases his decision solely off of what the crowd will think of him. There isn’t a reasonable reason to shoot the elephant, he merely wants to be liked. “A white man mustn't be frightened in front of “natives”; so in general, he isn’t frightened.” “The insults hooted after me when I was at a safe distance, got badly on my nerves”. Reading this sentence, this is an irony and outright contradiction. The narrator acts like he doesn’t care what the natives think of him, but this has to be false. The second quote shows that their jeers do indeed get on his nerves. And more obviously, he would not have shot the elephant if the crowd of natives didn’t influence his decision.

This is why when looking at all the evidence, it is abundantly clear that both stories parallel the theme of peer pressure and show how peer pressure can severely influence one’s decision. Most of the characters, if confronted about the pressure placed upon them, would deny it. They would think that they are in the right and that those around them have never had any influence on them. This is simply because humans are flawed, and at the end of the day, we all are influenced by each other one way or another.