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Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

670 Words3 Pages

Is the murder of innocent children or adults justified as long as it follows tradition? In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, villagers have and annual lottery which calls for the stoning of a local villager for no reason other than traditional beliefs and made up opinions. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” customs passed down from generation to generation could lead to corrupt and poor decisions. Many cultures have different traditions passed on to each generation. The people of that culture can decide which ones they want to follow and which they don’t. In The Lottery, the tradition that was passed on was an annual lottery which forced one person each year from the village to be stoned to death. The lottery was accepted throughout the village …show more content…

The villagers have no reason to justify what they’re doing besides their own made up reasons why it’s fair. They’re not the first people that follow these traditions though, ancient religions and cultures also offered human sacrifices, but it was for a greater cause or being. The people also show that they believe in what they’re doing by criticizing those who don’t have a lottery. As stated in the story, Mr. Adams said “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.” This prompted Old Man Warner to respond with “Pack of young fools” (Jackson 130). This demonstrates that they think they’re doing the right thing while the others are wrong. Not everybody agreed with the lottery though. During the story, Tessie Hutchinson the wife and mother of the family that was picked for the lottery started to realize how corrupt the drawing actually was. When she started to argue the system, she was the one drawn to be stoned. It took the fear of death to show her the system was corrupt. Even though she argued about being stoned, nobody listened to her and even her own husband didn’t do anything to help her. They just left her to die like it was her

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Most people know the lottery as a contest to win money. But in the short story, “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson, the lottery is not a simple game competing for money. In this small village’s version of the lottery, everyone must draw out of a box, and if their family is chosen then the whole family must redraw and the death of a member is decided. After the fate is decided, the rest of the village throws stones at him or her until he or she dies. The villages reasoning of this process is they believe it guarantees a plentiful crop season.

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The village blindly accepts the tradition and have caused bizarre murder to become a part of their culture. It is conveyed throughout the story that the villagers do not know why they do the lottery but nevertheless try to preserve it. The lottery is done for three specific reasons. First off, because it is tradition. Second, because people believe it is used to rid the community of evil.

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223 Words | 1 Pages

The town doesn't remember the normal ritual or how the lottery was managed. For instance, The author says "The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, " Despite how " much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, " the town continues the tradition. At the end of the story, the author highlights the town's commitment to the tradition, despite the inconsistent ritual. As it states in the text "Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. " This shows the goal of the ritual, sacrificing a person remains consistent throughout the town's history.

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936 Words | 4 Pages

As the name of the story implies, there is a ceremony called the Lottery. Every year in this village, there must have a person who is unlucky to be chosen as the “winner” and stoned to death by everyone in the village. The belief behind this ceremony is that if this happens every year, there will be a good harvest. The old and worn box for “lucky drawing” shows that this particular ceremony has been going on for many years now. So the faithful villagers are used to the violent murder without any doubts or eagerness to make a change.

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692 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, members from a small farming town come together once a year to observe a ritual known as “the lottery.” Unfortunately, the winner of the lottery must be stoned to death due to an ancient belief that this will help their crops to grow, even though most members of the community don’t remember that is why they still perform the ritual. This ritual is all fun and games to the people in the community until they are determined the “winner” by drawing the sheet of paper with a black dot on it. One of the major themes of this story surrounds the dangers of blindly following traditions and the outcome of these acts.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

The Danger of Tradition Traditionally many ancient societies would kill their people to sacrifice to God in order to obtain rain or a good harvest. These mindlessly, followed traditions were never critically thought about and therefore citizens died year after year. A similar tragedy occurs in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. This story features a civilization much like our own but with one small difference, the town’s people hold a lottery every year and the town stones who ever loses to death.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

The thought is that the ritual would bring a large harvest and people focus on that aspect rather than the morality of the tradition. In the case of this year’s lottery, a woman who was a mom and a wife was killed by the village. This will lead to the children growing up without a loving mother and a man living the rest of his life in sorrow. Soon after, once the townspeople have chosen their slips of paper to reveal who will be sacrificed, the host of the lottery tells everyone to open their papers. As Mrs. Hutchinson opens her paper and sees the black dot she knows her fate is sealed: “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right.”

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Imagine a society where killing somebody for the sake of a tradition is acceptable. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describes an ordinary village with normal people, but as the story progress the details of their yearly practice known as “the lottery” unravels to be more disturbing. The author subverts the readers’ expiations by persuading the reader into assuming “the lottery” is a ordinary tradition until unusual details and the behavior of the characters come into place. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.

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Traditionally Ignorant: The Lottery Essay: Are all traditions good? Do we blindly follow what has come before us, or can we question the structure in place? The "The Lottery" short story by Shirley Jackson is a terrific perspective filled with this dilemma. A small village with good honest people living their lives. Once a year, compelled to sacrifice one of their own due to some ancient ritual, they can barely remember.

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Most of the villagers are farmers, and their profession is how they get by, money and food. Hence, the welfare of the crops mean the most to farmers, and the quote hints that people believe that a sacrifice to the “spirits” will help their crops grow. Once again, the evidence hints that the lottery is a religious sacrifice, long

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464 Words | 2 Pages

A lottery is usually an occasion for celebration but this one is a ritual that involves stoning a person to death based on the lottery’s results. Old Man Warner’s explanation offers insight into why utilitarianism and superstition blend together : "Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." ( para. 33 ) . It seems that the villagers believed that in order to have a good harvest of corn for the village, they would have to sacrifice one person in the guise of a lottery. They assumed that trouble would follow if they didn’t go through with the lottery and they might even find themselves living in caves again like the ancient men.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

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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856 Words | 4 Pages

This tradition, otherwise called a The Lottery, is directed once every year amid the late spring. Everybody is obliged to take an interest in the lottery every year. The members incorporate the head of families and relatives in every home. The individual who wins the lottery is then stoned to death by whatever remains of the town individuals. The old man utilizes that impact of keeping things the way they are, to bring about different villagers to trust and act the same way.

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649 Words | 3 Pages

However, it is quite opposite of what the story portrays. What the reader does not see from the beginning of the story and does not capture until midway through, is that the lottery is actually something awful. When the lottery processions proceed the story starts to develop a more serious and somber mood. The townspeople show no remorse or empathy for one another and friendships slowly diminish. This is especially true when they know they will soon have to stone to death the villager who has drawn the marked paper; for instance, when Mrs. Delacroix picks up the biggest rock to bludgeon to death, the winner, Mrs. Hutchinson.

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798 Words | 4 Pages

Though essential to them, the townsfolk are unaware and begin to question why they continue to participate in such the barbaric ritual of selecting a villager at random, and stoning them to death. Peer pressure and conformity are the reasons that the clear majority of these villagers are participating. One of the frightening elements of this tradition, is that it seems eternal. The townsfolk are unaware of the origin of “The Lottery”, and by the sounds of Old Man Warner practically forcing the townsfolk to allow the ritual to continue, there seems to be no end in sight. The lack of knowledge about the tradition, shows just how strong the tradition has become.

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