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Tess Huntchinson The Lottery Tradition

569 Words3 Pages

Should tradition be altered once in awhile? It wouldn’t hurt just to make a couple of changes just to be “safe”. In the story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there are a small town of people who celebrate a special tradition. It occurs annually in the morning of June 27th located at the town square. The people in the town seem friendly but there is a dark secret that they all do during the lottery. The winner of the lottery is very unfortunate which is quite ironic, and is chosen to be sacrificed for the great of crops. There are important characters within the story but, there were two character whom stuck out the story the most. These two characters were Mr. Summers and Tessie Huntchinson. In every town there is a leader, and in this town the leader happens to be a round-faced man judicial Mr. Summers. This poor man ran the coal in the town, and people felt bad for him because he has no children and a wife who is to abusive to him. This man values his town and the crops within it, so he would practically do whatever it takes to keep the tradition going. He dislikes nothing and just cares about his town. His overarching goal is to keep sacrificing for the crops. The motives he has is his tradition and he would never change. He plays his part and keeps the town running. …show more content…

She was ordinary just like everyone else in the town. She was a middle aged, jovial, sarcastic housewife. Tessie, who is married to Bill and has three children, was sacrificed. She had won the lottery and had to pay the price. Her overarching goal was to survive the lottery like everybody else. Tessie’s goal was cut short when she got the paper with the black spot. She offered to sacrifice her children just to save herself and also tried to convince people that it wasn’t fair because Bill didn’t have enough time to reap a slip. She was then murdered by the town because of tradition and changed from the beginning of the story to the

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Tessie Hutchinson should not have been stoned to death in The Lottery. She was completely innocent of any crime that we know of, had a family that she was taking care of, and seemed to be one of the only voices of reason in the village. When she is introduced, she is portrayed as a funny wife. She forgot that it was June 27th because she was taking care of the house for her family. She called out that the lottery system wasn’t fair, they even said that every year it gets faster and faster.

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This village does ‘the lottery’ which is when they pick a name from a box and the winner gets stones thrown at them until they die. This has always been a tradition and most don't like it, but no one wants it to change. The Lottery is very similar to Fahrenheit 451 because they're both being controlled by a higher power, the government. These characters cannot easily break free of the authoritative power. In this story, Tessie’s husband’s name is drawn.

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The chapter “How to Tell a True War Story” in the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien main focus is that in war stories, not everything is accurately told or explained. But even with this, the feelings of the soldiers can still be completely true. A surreal story is when a story is exaggerated or is not completely true, to express the true feelings that went on in the story. On pages 74 to 76, the narrator tells about an incident with a baby VC water buffalo and the soldier Rat Kiley . At first Rat Kiley took care of the animal by trying to feed it and being kind to it, but the buffalo would not eat any of the C rations.

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Tessie is the winner of this year’s lottery and therefore won the grand prize of being stoned to death by family, friends, and neighbor. Tessie (short for Teresa, Theresa, or Therasia) has multiple meanings but two of the most common are “harvester” and “reaper”. Two important ones when you remember the saying “You reap what you sow.” This has even more impact when you remember that earlier she was perfectly fine with the lottery until her household was chosen and even in previous years when she had participated in the stoning of

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Not only is she the protagonist of the story, but she is also the scapegoat as well. By acting as the protagonist and scapegoat, the reader has conflicting views of the character. Just like Santiago Nasar in "A Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Garcia Marquez, Santiago was not a good person, yet by being murdered to brutally and unfairly, the reader sympathized with him and turned their frustration towards the townspeople. This same phenomenon is exhibited in the final moments of the story and of Tessie's life; she clearly was a selfish person when the odds were stacked against her, yet the reader sees her as a victim of a society's crime. Another similarity between the Tessie and Santiago is they were both a scapegoat for the sole purpose of cleansing their towns of sin.

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Tessie Hutchinson, a villager, symbolizes the injustice of the lottery tradition in her village. In the beginning of the story, Tessie's character is introduced by her almost being late to the lottery. She states "Clean forgot what day it was… ", this statement shows that the lottery tradition

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Primarily one of the main characters felt the horror of this brutal act: the so-called “winner” of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson. On a clear and sunny day, the flowers were blossoming, and the grass was rich green, at first glance, the meeting in the square appeared to be a celebration; however, as we followed the story, we soon realized that something was terribly wrong. This so-called “lottery” was actually a dreadful process, in which the villagers chose one of their own to be stoned to death, a very dehumanizing effect, by friends, neighbors, and even

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Both women are victims of their societies, however, Tessie’s perspective on her situation differs greatly from that of Jane’s. Tessie appears to be compliant with the yearly ritual until she is the one who draws the damning slip of paper, provoking her to argue that her situation is unfair. “Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers. “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you.

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Likewise the two similar characters, Tessie Hutchinson (The Lottery) and Richard Jordan (Examination Day). These two characters may seem different from specific views, but share some much alike characteristics. Both Characters were naive as to what the unfortunate future held against them. “Wouldn't have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?””Get up there, Bill,” Mrs Hutchinson said and the people near her laughed.” Tessie is a naive person whom was acting carefree throughout the whole ritual.

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The purpose of the lottery is to continue the old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order for a harvest. The scapegoat is chosen at random and then stoned to death by his/her companions. Although “The Lottery” reflects an event from the past, Jackson shows that many of the actions of the town resemble the tribulations that ensue in today’s society. To begin with, like the villagers in the story, our society also partakes in valuing tradition.

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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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Another quote to suggest the crowd grew nervous was when Mr. Adams was called upon, “They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously”. She described what the characters were doing and not what their thoughts or intentions were. Shirley Jackson intensified the feeling when Tessie hysterically protested Bill’s “winning” selection, by withholding information until the last possible second, she builds the story’s suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion. In conclusion, The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson builds up suspense by foreshadowing the horrible moment through the children who felt uneasy and collected rocks, creating a character that stands out from the crowd, Tessie Hutchinson, the person who saved her husband but could not save herself. More importantly, withholding the true nature of the story until the end, leading to the tragic death of Tessie

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Full of plot twists, and turns, “The Lottery” relies on its characters to convey a sense of normalcy throughout a majority of the story. The villagers’ acceptance of rituals allows them to act normal while knowingly partaking in a deadly tradition. Jackson’s brilliant use of deceptiveness leaves readers blind sighted as one could never predict this story’s outcome. Jackson’s work is renowned because of its unpredictable shift in tone. June 27, may appear to be a pleasant summer day, but this prediction could not be further from the truth.

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She realizes that this is an unpleasurable and outdated tradition and should be forgotten only because she got chosen. However, if her family’s name wasn’t drawn, she would have blindly followed the ritual, thrilled to have escaped a gruesome, sacrificial death. As a reader it is easy to empathize for Tessie since she or others don’t have a voice in their community or are even able to look at the bigger picture and see that the lottery is unnecessary. Not only does the dramatic irony of the lottery allow the reader to understand Tessie’s view, it creates a similar feeling towards Bill Hutchinson. For example, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand.

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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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