Contrary to the meaning of the story "The Lottery" written by Shirley Jackson symbolizing more a sacrificial ritual; In contrast, the lottery and the traditions
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.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” examines human traditions and the way humans cling to them without necessary probable reasons. The villagers fear of letting go there traditions. Two elements that illustrate the theme of the fading tradition in “The Lottery” are the black box and Old Man Warner. The black box functions as a symbol for the decaying tradition of the lottery.
Shirley Jackson's 'the lottery' demonstrates the dangers of traditions because the villagers' actions highlight the harmful consequences of following a tradition without understanding its purpose. The tradition of the village was to sacrifice someone from the village to be able to get good crops the next year. In danger of tradition there traditions were passed down but they where wrong they did it because they saw there mother do it. In the story 'The Lottery' the small village was a village with a very weird tradition.
“The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about how villagers from a small town partake in a cruel tradition. They believe that they will have a bountiful harvest if they sacrifice one of their own. Throughout this story there is symbolism that shows how the tradition is kept, their fear of change, and things to come. This is shown through objects, dialogue, and even names. The villagers’ fear of the unknown stops them from changing this tradition, so it becomes a norm in their society.
In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, Jackson identifies the main theme of the story as resentment towards following an annual tradition and the
One of the most skillful and devastating aspects of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is that it constantly topples the reader’s expectations about what should happen next or even at all. This story is certainly suspense because it’s not until the very end until the reader knows what’s really in store for the “winner”. In the short story, The Lottery, Jackson states irony and betrayal mostly towards the end of the story because usually winning the lottery evokes a sense of luck but in this story it’s the total opposite. “Mr.Summers spoke frequently about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” The tradition of the black box wasn’t so much as tradition anymore but more towards just the violence.
At a time when basic religious beliefs and traditions were being questioned by academia, author Shirley Jackson penned a poignant attack against those who blindly accepted values and traditions in her short story, “The Lottery.” The Lottery is presented as an event that has always occurred throughout the region's history without any opposition. Nonchalantly, the entire village commits homicide at the finale. Finally, aspects of the traditional lottery evolved without notice or were forgotten by the villagers. Within “The Lottery,” author Shirley Jackson embeds the theme of blindly accepting traditions as illustrated by the actions of the villagers.
The short story “The Lottery” is written by Shirley Jackson. This story takes place in a small village where everybody knows each other. In this story all the villagers gather around town for their annual lottery. Everyone in the village is compelled to follow this tradition even if the outcome ends up with someone dying. In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses conflict, theme, and irony to develop this suspenseful short story.
In her story "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson implies the negative consequences of blindly following tradition through the acceptance, by the villagers, of the tradition of the lottery. Jackson suggests that the people of the village are afraid to give up the little tradition they have, even if it is not good. Every year after the lottery, the conductor of the lottery, Mr. Summers suggests that they should build a new box but, “No one [likes] to upset even as much tradition as [is] represented by the box.” (Jackson, 1). The black box symbolizes ritual and tradition.
Traditions that are outdated have a negative impact on people’s lives. Through analyzing the symbols in the short story it illustrates that traditions are not easy to change when society has accepted them as their way of life which can result in destruction. Mr. Summers displays the black wooden box in the centre of the crowd establishing to the villagers that it was time to proceed with their tradition being that “tradition... was represented by the black box” (Jackson). The author uses the black box as a symbol to define tradition which was a good analogy. Shirley Jackson also never reveals the outcome of the true purpose of the black box until the end of the story keeping her audience wondering what the significance is.
Abby Conlon Gilchrist English 1102 9 April 2023 “The Lottery” Lotteries can be defined in many different ways; the common theme between them is that within a community, someone becomes chosen. Today's most typical lottery is lottery tickets at the grocery store and gas stations. It's a common addiction today because people are money-hungry. Everyone wants to win the money and be chosen. A more negative and life-threatening version of this is shown in the Vietnam War in 1969 when they held drafts where all eligible men were required to participate, and the men chosen were sent to war.
In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, each year the people of the town had a lottery. And every year another person dies to the lottery. The lottery has little meaning left to the people of the town and now they are only doing it for the sake of tradition. Now it is different for the settlers of the town. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’
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.
Historically, in every culture, important practices exist which transmit traditional values to subsequent generations as traditions is a critical piece of our culture. They help developing and moulding the attitudes and characters of humans, forming the structure and foundation of families and our society. Notwithstanding, many traditions promote social unity and coherent, some traditions erode the integrity, psychological and physical health of individuals as can be seen in the story “The Lottery” writer by Shirley Jackson. In the story, head of the families take a lot in choosing the family that going to sacrifice one of the family members to increase the crop yield. Furthermore, the story “Looking for Rain God” written by Bessie Head reflects the belief in traditional practices, resulting in merciless death of two children.
