Importance Of Tradition In The Lottery

The “Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson is a compelling story of a small town that comes together for an annual ‘one-winner’ lottery on June 27th. Started as a buoyant story, the lottery true colors are soon shown. After choosing one family, and then a single person in that family through what seems like luck, the sole member, Tessie Hutchinson is stoned by all the other villagers ,presumably to death. A common theme in this story is the tradition. The villagers it seems, are bound to this atortious event by tradition, though it is implied throughout that the true meaning and actions of the lottery have been lost decades ago. This book shows the tradition of the lottery, how it may have been different before, and lastly, the villagers inability to change.

First of all, we learn about the tradition of the lottery. This annual event seems to have been there for a long time, since we know that it has existed decades before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. As Old Man Warner is in his 90’s, we therefore know that this lottery

“Though the original paraphernalia had been lost decades, the villagers still remembered to use the stones.” Paraphernalia are the tools and instructions needed for an event. This means that even though these tools are lost, the villagers remembered that the stones were part of it, and therefore, they use them during the lottery. However, it is implied that villagers don’t even remember the original use of the stones. Perhaps the stones were just aligned around the stadium as decoration, or maybe they were an offering to the gods. After the original paraphernalia was lost, the villagers may have continued the tradition with some guess work that slowly changed throughout the centuries. That means that the lottery could have been very different before, but the current people do not know