Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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

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