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Comparing Traditions In The Lottery And Things Fall Apart

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The Wrongs and the Rights of Traditions "The Lottery" and Things Fall Apart both underscore societies' need for certainty through traditions, beliefs, and rituals. This is shown in the two works through the use of highlighting negative outcomes and by blindly following traditions. Without the use of ever questioning the customs or having curiosity in determining the drawback in exploration of other customs, nothing else is ever known to us. "The Lottery", a short story by Shirley Jackson, unravels an annual tradition where each year one unfortunate person is randomly chosen and sacrificed by the rest of the village. Everyone in the village selects a slip of paper from a box, and the person who selects the marked paper has stones thrown at them by the other …show more content…

The village values a man who can fight, provide for his many wives and children, and above all show no fear or hesitation. Okonkwo, realizing the strength of his tribe is gone and has been replaced with weakness, kills himself in a desperate attempt. Given that both works have such tragic endings, they shed light on the necessity of updating traditions and beliefs in the current age. In my personal life, traditions hold immense significance and meaning. Outside of school, I am a member of the rowing team, dedicating much of my time to practices held nearly every morning or afternoon, depending on the season. The commitment I have placed myself in stems from the traditions that have been within the team. Some of these traditions are decades old, while others have been added with the intent of passing them down to future generations of the team. One tradition during the spring season that has been around for years, is our Friday night pasta party before a regatta. We do this as a way to energize before a race and as a way to forge connections with one

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Questioning Traditions     Traditions can be part of one 's culture but should they be changed? The author’s purpose is to make the reader’s question some traditions. In the story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, uses tone and mood to make the reader question the tradition of stoning people. In the story, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseni uses person vs person conflict to make the reader question the tradition of calling unwanted kids harami. In the story, “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut, uses person vs society conflict to make the reader question the tradition of population control.

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One can see by examining the symbolism of the setting and the irony of a welcoming setting Shirley Jackson's short story, The Lottery is not an archetypal horror story. Firstly, one can see that as the story continues, it progressively gets creepier, for an example, with the introduction of Mr.Graves, it may not be much but it is the beginning of a long slippery slope that leads to the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson. Throughout the story one would be greeted with the warm inviting descriptions, for example, “The morning of July 27th was clear and sunny with a fresh warmth of a full-summer day; The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green”. That quote, for example, is but one, of some descriptions the shield the unexpected and off-putting ending.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

The Danger of Tradition Traditionally many ancient societies would kill their people to sacrifice to God in order to obtain rain or a good harvest. These mindlessly, followed traditions were never critically thought about and therefore citizens died year after year. A similar tragedy occurs in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story features a civilization much like our own but with one small difference, the town’s people hold a lottery every year and the town stones who ever loses to death.

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A recent argument, which brought globalization into the spotlight during the latest presidential debate, is NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). According to the article “NAFTA’s Economic Impact” by James McBride and Mohammad Aly Sergie, President Donald Trump has promised to get rid of this agreement. He states that this agreement has taken manufacturing jobs from the rural communities and these jobs ended up in Mexico. This was an agreement between Canada, United States, and Mexico that begin in the early 1990’s. According to the article “North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)” NAFTA immediately allowed free trade throughout North America elevating tax from products and services across the borders of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

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994 Words | 4 Pages

“The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about how villagers from a small town partake in a cruel tradition. They believe that they will have a bountiful harvest if they sacrifice one of their own. Throughout this story there is symbolism that shows how the tradition is kept, their fear of change, and things to come. This is shown through objects, dialogue, and even names. The villagers’ fear of the unknown stops them from changing this tradition, so it becomes a norm in their society.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson begins innocently enough with a village preparing for an annual event, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the seemingly harmless tradition is anything but, forcing readers to confront the dangers of blindly following tradition. Jackson employs rhetorical techniques that highlight the importance of avoiding conformity, as it will lead to dire consequences. Shirley Jackson's story is a powerful example of the use of symbolism, vivid imagery, and irony to illuminate the danger and violence of blindly following traditions, as the seemingly innocent annual lottery in a small town ultimately reveals the brutal consequences of conformity and the human capacity for violence. Throughout the story Jackson

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In the village, and the world at large, in “The Lottery” there is a yearly practice of human sacrifice to assure good crop. The feeling that occur to the fictional people in this story must be very conflicted or dulled to the point where there is no longer feeling. Jackson’s only source of background is conversation between the characters. The narrator does not offer any background at all. Through the story we see that this lottery is a yearly event.

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404 Words | 2 Pages

Many towns have traditions that they are not willing to let go of, but none like the one in the story The Lottery. Unlike most traditions this one does not have a happy ending. If you draw the chosen ticket from the black box you are then pegged with rocks by your whole town including your family. The forsaken tradition that this town is not willing to let go is dangling on by a thread. Many signs are shown throughout the story that the tradition that they thought would last forever is not going to last so long.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Historically, in every culture, important practices exist which transmit traditional values to subsequent generations as traditions is a critical piece of our culture. They help developing and moulding the attitudes and characters of humans, forming the structure and foundation of families and our society. Notwithstanding, many traditions promote social unity and coherent, some traditions erode the integrity, psychological and physical health of individuals as can be seen in the story “The Lottery” writer by Shirley Jackson. In the story, head of the families take a lot in choosing the family that going to sacrifice one of the family members to increase the crop yield. Furthermore, the story “Looking for Rain God” written by Bessie Head reflects the belief in traditional practices, resulting in merciless death of two children.

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Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining

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The impact of the Fast Food Industry on Obesity in the US Introduction Today, America is not only seen as the country with the highest rate of obesity among the population, but it is also seen as the country that keeps the fast food chains prospering. Over the past few decades, multiply fast food chains such as McDonald’s, has taken over the rates of being the cause behind many peoples health issues. Diabetes and high blood pressure caused by different fast food chains have lead to more serious issues than heart problems; it is also a very common cause of death. Since the very first fast food chain started, America has come far. Creating worldwide food chains and famous characters was a tremendous idea in the beginning.

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569 Words | 3 Pages

Many people would die to win the lottery; in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson you would do anything NOT to win this lottery. This annual lottery reveals the negative aspects of this town’s Tradition, Savagery, Barbarism, and cold-heartedness. In this paper I will show why this town blindly follows these customs, not because it’s a tradition but because of the accepting wickedness that can be shown. Why does the town follow this foolish tradition? Throughout “The Lottery” the narrator tells that the people do not remember how the lottery began, and that some of the older people believe the lottery has changed over the years, that now people just want to get it over with as fast as possible.

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467 Words | 2 Pages

In her story "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson implies the negative consequences of blindly following tradition through the acceptance, by the villagers, of the tradition of the lottery. Jackson suggests that the people of the village are afraid to give up the little tradition they have, even if it is not good. Every year after the lottery, the conductor of the lottery, Mr. Summers suggests that they should build a new box but, “No one [likes] to upset even as much tradition as [is] represented by the box.” (Jackson, 1). The black box symbolizes ritual and tradition.

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586 Words | 3 Pages

At a time when basic religious beliefs and traditions were being questioned by academia, author Shirley Jackson penned a poignant attack against those who blindly accepted values and traditions in her short story, “The Lottery.” The Lottery is presented as an event that has always occurred throughout the region's history without any opposition. Nonchalantly, the entire village commits homicide at the finale. Finally, aspects of the traditional lottery evolved without notice or were forgotten by the villagers. Within “The Lottery,” author Shirley Jackson embeds the theme of blindly accepting traditions as illustrated by the actions of the villagers.

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505 Words | 3 Pages

The villagers on “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are afraid to let go of their tradition, the lottery. They are concern of unknown consequences that will happen if they change their old customs. So, for every year, the villagers gather at the square to do the lottery at 10 AM . The villagers are afraid to quit their outdated tradition because they think that changing their old customs will only bring trouble.

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