Tradition Depicted In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story written in 1948 that consists of multiple essential themes, including the dangers of following tradition blindly. The tale takes place in a small village where its people gather yearly to participate in a lottery for a good harvest. On this occasion, the head of each household in the town picks a paper slip from a black box. One slip contains a black dot inside, and whoever picks it has to have their immediate family come up to individually pick yet another piece of paper. That person who winds up with the black dot is declared the winner of the lottery and is stoned to death by all of the people that they know and love. In this case, the protagonist, Tessie Hutchinson, was the chosen one and brutally murdered by everyone, including her little son, Davey, even after protesting. The lottery is first seen by readers as a pleasant and exciting event, but as the story progresses, readers’ perspective changes as the violent and twisted components of the lottery are exposed.

The townspeople are eager and after learning about the characters, the reader is rooting for specific ones, such as Bobby Martin to win. Jackson depicts the day as “...clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” (Jackson 1). This is what leads the reader to believe that the mood is jovial and that the day will be amazing. In addition, the mannerisms of the characters were positive and lighthearted. As described, “They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands . . . Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing back to the pile of stones.” (Jackson 3). Once again, the reader can feel that sense of happiness and that is what makes these quotes vital to the storyline. In