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Keeping Tradition In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

384 Words2 Pages
Mr. Summers from the story “The Lottery” shows that keeping tradition is important. Mr. Summers is described holding a black box in the begging. That black box is what the village use for the lottery. The village people say that the original black box was lost and that Mr. Summers wanted to build a new black box. In doing so, Mr. Summers wants to renew the lottery tradition but not put it in the pass. Mr. summers attitude is to prolong the lottery tradition as they did before he was even born. This attitude to prolong a tradition is applicable to many citizen today. For example, birthday party are a tradition to celebrate, and children cannot wait till there next birthday party to celebrate. Another character in “The Lottery” that can relate
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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” examines human traditions and the way humans cling to them without necessary probable reasons. The villagers fear of letting go there traditions. Two elements that illustrate the theme of the fading tradition in “The Lottery” are the black box and Old Man Warner. The black box functions as a symbol for the decaying tradition of the lottery.

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Symbolism is used multiple times throughout “The Lottery.” Mr. Summers is the person who calls people up to draw. His name symbolizes when the lottery takes place, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day;.” Mr. Warner is the oldest man in the village and obviously has done the lottery the most times. People around the village are talking about getting rid the lottery.

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A night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made a box of slip paper; the box got taken to and “locked up” in Mr. Summer’s coal company until he was ready to take the box the next day. A sense of seriousness brings in, provokes the reader to wonder the mystery behind the black box. “We better get started, get this over with.” The sober tone of Mr. Summer adds on to the uncertainties of the lottery. As suppose the villagers should have been exciting regarding to the draw of the winner.

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Mr. Summers is stated as a “round-faced, jovial man” on page 15, lines 52-53. It seems that he doesn’t enjoy the lottery because he is described as sober. tPage 16, lines 78-82, proves just how long the lottery has

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It may be surprising to find out how many dangerous traditions are practiced throughout the world, where people are willing to risk their lives in order to continue these traditions. Such an example is the Running of the Bulls, a tradition where a herd of cattle is let loose onto the streets. The tradition has resulted in hundreds of injuries and over a dozen deaths since its start in the 14th century. Shirly Jackson’s “The Lottery” paints a picture of such a tradition in her short story, where a small village performs an annual tradition of a lottery. Initially appearing pleasant to the reader, it eventually takes a darker turn and reveals the fact that the winner is stoned to death.

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(Jackson 2). This description can also serve as symbolism of the tradition throughout the rest of the towns. In other towns they are either modifying the execution of the lottery or they are getting rid of it all together. So the tradition, much like the box, is no longer completely what it was and in some places

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(Jackson 312) shows that because this was something that had always happened the town saw this as something that they had to do. At the beginning of the story as the town gathers for the annual lottery there is a calm tone. Everyone is gathering and laughing and playing, but as soon as Mr. Summers begins the ceremony the shift in tone can be felt. One of the men that had attended 77 town lottery’s and survived them all. That’s where the feeling that the lottery isn’t a good thing sets in.

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The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a village and community that follow their traditions. In the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry Jonas wanted his fellow citizens to change and thereby give up Sameness. In the Giver, Luis Lowry's own memories emphasize the themes in The Giver, including the importance of individuality and freedom of choice, and the need for caring relationships between all human beings despite their differences. Jonas Said “We gained control of many things” (Lowry 34).

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Abortion is defined as, “The removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy”(“Abortion” 1). As you can see, when the dictionary defines it, it avoids the words “killing” or “life” or “baby.” In my opinion, they avoid this because the government has not been able to make a decision over what an abortion really is. Some say it is murder, some say the baby has not grown or isn’t alive so it’s not murder.

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In “the lottery” there are a few key characters that contribute a lot to the story line, Mr. summers the man who conducts the lottery is of course, one of them. Mr. summers name holds a significance to it because of the lottery being connected to him in a huge way. Mr. summers prepares the slips of paper that go into the black box and calls the names of the people who draw the papers. He is the owner of a coal company and is one of the village leaders and is married to a miserable wife with no kids. Mr. summers is a happy man who is efficient with conducting the lottery.

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The Lottery In the short story,” The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the characters have different views on” the lottery.” In the short story Mrs. Hutchinson does not agree or like the thought of the lottery. She does not like it because she thinks it is stupid and she thinks it is unfair. Also you can tell she thinks it is unfair because she yells it out to everyone in the crowd.

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When the power of a tradition is given to a person, it could lead to a crumbling society. For example, in the lottery, Shirley Jackson writes “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and when Mr.Summers asked… ‘give me a hand?’ there was hesitation.” This reveals that despite Mr. Summers being portrayed as a “round-faced, jovial man”, he brings fear and hesitation by just being seen with the black box. Mr. Summers is known for bringing joy when conducting fun activities like square dances, teenage club, and the Halloween program, however, when

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The tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.

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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

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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