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Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

887 Words4 Pages

Tradition is a sacred way to pass down the customs or beliefs of one generation to another. It is sometimes used to celebrate certain occasions, pay tribute, or remember the fallen. But in some cases, it can be used to sate the deep dark thoughts humans keep hidden inside them. For example, in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, it is common to hold a lottery annually in every town. At first, it sounds like a chance to get lucky and win some serious cash. Still, in reality, Jackson twists this interpretation to create a more disturbing tone out of a game of chance, which teaches the valuable lesson of not trusting everything that is taught or shown to a person. The Lottery takes place in a relatively small town on “The morning of June 27th” …show more content…

The men talk about “...planting and rain, tractors and taxes.” and “The women… exchanged bits of gossip …” (par. 3). Everyone seems innocent and joyful and at that time it may be true but when it comes to the annual lottery, they can become heartless monsters that find joy in killing. For example, Mrs. Hutchingson and Mrs. Delacroix were friends who chatted moments before the lottery started. They “ both laughed softly.” (par. 9) together about the fact that Mrs. Hutchingson was late, and they kept talking like the good friends they seemed to be. But when the winner of the lottery was revealed, Mrs. Delacroix “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar”, another friend of theirs, to throw it at Mrs. Hutchingson (par. 77). This cruel act of violence brings out the true colors of the supposed ordinary people of the town. When old man Warner talks about other towns ending the lottery he seems very displeased and that could be seen as resentment because it's been his "Seventy-seventh year…in the lottery…” (par. 42). But in reality, he thinks that the event is not as it used to be and that the town has gotten soft. He even goes as far as to call the younger people who are getting rid of the lottery a “‘Pack of crazy fools,’" (par. 34). This irony goes to show how some don't even realize that their tradition is crazy and that is why the lottery will most likely continue to

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Tradition is a way in which anybody can express their beliefs and creativity in any way they want. In the short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson shows how blindly following tradition can sometimes be atrocious to morality. Every year, there’s a lottery held to decide the next sacrifice to the gods. It was the sunny morning of June 27th; people of a small town were gathered in the square of the village. In this small village, only two hours are needed to conduct the lottery while other villages need days, for they had larger populations.

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