Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a classic short story widely known for its twisted ending. This story covers a village participating in its annual tradition, as the entire town gathers in the square, and every head of the family picks a piece of paper from the wooden box. The family that is chosen then has everyone in the family draw again, this time the one who gets the paper with a black dot is stoned to death. The townsfolk continue this tradition, since it’s said to keep the crop production high for the year, however it’s evident that they continue mainly because they don’t want to change their ways. Jackson believes the tradition is not only outdated, but harmful to the town, and that change is a necessity in life. Through the usage

Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool.. (131).” Gathering in the center of the town to conduct the lottery may seem like a small detail, however conducting the lottery in the center is an important piece of the setting. This allows there to be a central focus of where the lottery is happening, and at the end when they surround Tessie to stone her, it all happens in the middle of the day, in the middle of the town square. By having the villagers gather in the middle of the town to conduct such a harsh event, it shows how their hearts may be in the right spot, however there’s little to no humanity left within them. They are so focused on completing the lottery and making sure they follow the tradition, that they don’t stop to think about whether or not it could be beneficial to put an end to it. Jackson uses symbolism to show how traditions can be more harmful than good. Now within the presence of the black box, the villagers seem distant, in contrast to how they were conversing happily not too long

The box is portrayed as so worn out, and with little reason to keep using it other than it uses original pieces. The villagers do not want to give up or even replace the box, as it’s what they are used to and do not like the idea of change. The images of this box being put together from old wooden pieces, decaying slowly over the years with nothing coming from discussions to replace it, help show how Jackson feels about change. The box needs to be changed out for a new one, since it’s so shabby, although the town wants to keep it because it’s what they’ve known for forever. Even after, “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. (131)” They simply do not want a new box, even with the old box being in such poor