“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson In the book “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the Villagers follow a tradition where a random person is selected and killed brutally. A theme that I think connects to the book the most is to avoid mindlessly overlooking tradition. Throughout this book it talks about how the tradition has changed and that it isn't even the same as it used to be. In the beginning of the story, when they were getting the box of cards ready, it states that “the Original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago”(1). This is significant because the original box has been lost as well as many parts of the original ritual of the lottery have been forgotten. This shows that the people often hold on to outdated traditions,