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Examples Of Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Traditions in the Lottery
The definition of tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice (Dictionary). Shirley Jackson, a science fiction writer, highlights how some society’s traditions are significant; however, the result of the event can create a dystopian society. There are important examples regarding tradition in the story of “The Lottery”. Tradition is exemplified through the stones and black box in the short story. On June 27th, it was a clear, sunny, and warm summer day. The children of the village began to prepare themselves for the lottery. Bobby Martin, one of the characters in the story, sets an example to the other boys for the special event. “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson). Without thinking and asking his parents what needs to done, Martin …show more content…

The original paraphernalia for the lottery went missing a long time ago. On the other hand, the black box determines the winner. Mr. Summer writes the family name on a piece of paper and inserts it in the box. After choosing the head of the household, each member in that family picks a paper in the black box. The winner of the lottery will receive a black dot on the piece of paper. “The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up the slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summer’s coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square next morning” (Jackson). Storing the black box in a safe place in case will help reduce the chances of it being stolen or destroyed. However, the box reveals the fate of taking someone’s life away. The black box is a significant item because it is used to determine the winner of The

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Everyone has traditions no matter where they’re from you might not even think some of the holidays people celebrate are traditions, for example Christmas, Independence day, even your birthday we tend to view traditions as positive but not every tradition is and short story The Lottery shows a perfect example of harmful traditions. To Start off the theme of The lottery is that Tradition isn't always a good thing and the way the author portrays this is by using Foreshadowing. The use of Foreshadowing is used when “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones'' (Jackson 1).This is a prime example of foreshadowing because we learn further in

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These are traditions which are often difficult for those who are not hurt by them to see clearly and that stories like “The Lottery" help to

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One piece of the lottery that kept the most tradition was the black box. The author writes “ the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box. But no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box”. This box had been around for so long and represented years of tradition that no one wanted to get a new box.

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The Lottery Template Topic Sentence: One can see by examining the symbolism of the worn out black box, and the foreshadowing of the children putting rocks in their pockets in the The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, that this story is a classic archetypal horror story. Argument: Firstly, one can see that when Mr. Summers arrived at the square carrying a black wooden box, he asked the villagers if anyone would give him a hand with putting the box on the three- legged stool, however, many hesitated to come near the black box, a symbolic twist that foreshadows the imminent ending. The black box has been used for generations, even before the oldest villager. It has been said that the current box was made from the pieces of the

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Imagine a society where killing somebody for the sake of a tradition is acceptable. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describes an ordinary village with normal people, but as the story progress the details of their yearly practice known as “the lottery” unravels to be more disturbing. The author subverts the readers’ expiations by persuading the reader into assuming “the lottery” is a ordinary tradition until unusual details and the behavior of the characters come into place. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.

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“The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).

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First, in the ”The Lottery” the black box represents a tradition that has been followed for longer than people can remember. Like the lottery as a whole, the black box has no functionality except during this day every June: "It had spent one year in Mr Graves's barn and another year underfoot in the post office and sometimes it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there" (Jackson 6). The purpose of the box, like the lottery itself, has become

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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 Symbolism of The Lottery One big symbol that the short story is discreet about is the black box that is repeated throughout the short story symbolizes fear to adults which could affect even the most innocent. The black box appears to be the only paraphernalia that is still being used in the tradition of having a lottery. Mr. Summers is the one who is running the lottery at the time. Mr. Summers is seen as a nice man, however, when he is introduced, he is seen with the black box. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that uses the black box as a symbol to convey an underlying message that when the power of a tradition is given to a person, it could lead a crumbling society.

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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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Symbols such as the black box meaning the towns loyalty to the lottery ritual, to the lottery ritual itself representing tradition, the short story is brimming with hidden elements that are bursting out of the seams of what is Shirley Jacksons' famous short

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“The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts off with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers holds the lottery. Once everyone gathers, every family draws a slip of paper out of an old black box, and the family with the black mark on their paper gets picked. After that, each family member older than 3 years of age re-draws a slip of paper again and this time, the person with the black mark on their paper gets picked as the “lucky winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery, with her reward is being stoned to death.

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They do not want to follow the other towns that had given up the lottery. The townspeople are apprehensive of transition because of the unknown factors. One of the examples in the story that shows their lack of willingness to change their customs is the battered black box they use for the lottery. It has been stained and the original color of the wood is shown on the side. Every year, Mr. Summers, who manages the lottery suggests to the villagers to get a new box.

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They revere the black box. Another use of symbolism is the lottery itself. The lottery represents traditions and ways of thinking that society goes along with because of how they are raised. The townspeople blindly go on with the tradition without truly knowing the significance. Mr. Adams suggests they give up the lottery like the neighboring towns, and Old Man Warner has to remind him of the significance saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”

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