Unjust Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

“‘It’s not fair,’ she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head… ‘It isn’t fair! It isn’t right!’” (Jackson 6) Not all traditions should be kept, and this is prominent in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. But why exactly must we keep these traditions? In The Lottery, their unjust tradition happened once a year, and on a clear and sunny June day the members of the village gathered in the town square to participate in the lottery. However, unlike the lottery that partakes in our society, theirs involves narrowing down the villagers until one remains, who gets stoned to death by the other villagers. This cruel tradition is centered around the mysterious Black Box, from which the villagers draw from to determine the victim. Beyond The Black

The Black Box isn’t exactly the newest edition that black boxes come in for it, “grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some pieces faded or stained.” (Jackson 1) On the surface, the black box may just seem like a box, worn and tattered from its years of use. However, it’s broken appearance and chipped black paint help represent how dated and unjust the lottery really is. Ever since the village was established, the lottery has occurred. By now, just like The Black Box, the tradition of the lottery has become ugly and dated. However, even though the lottery is unfair and outdated with the current times, the people in the village keep doing it, year after year, just like how they can’t get rid of the “shabby and worn” black

Mr. Summers always wanted to change the box as he, “spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much as a tradition as was represented by the black box… Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything’s being done.” (Jackson 1) In this situation Mr. Summers can be compared to the members of the other villages that are wanting to get rid of the lottery, but in his case he wants to replace The Black Box. On the other hand, you have the villagers who, just like everyone else, want the lottery to remain. In other words, they do not want the box that has been intertwined into so much of their history to be replaced. One reason why so many traditions are kept, not just the lottery but also traditions in our own society, are that they have ties to the person or society’s very beginning. The villagers, in this case, do not want to replace the box or get rid of the lottery because it has been happening ever since their village was first