Analyzing The Intolerance Of Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

In the short story “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson the reader is taken aback and quickly shown how in humanity tradition can be blindly followed and is also shown the extent that tradition can be taken to. In this case, the story is heavily involved with human nature and how evil is apparent through that. Jackson specifically showcases the tendencies humans have in their nature to follow through with certain things whilst lacking reasonable thought. The village people in the story do not let go of tradition, because of this they practically allow their families to be subjected to a tradition that dictates who will live or die. The intolerance of change and true understanding of the lottery shown throughout, and the townspeople’s emotionless killing shows a blind acceptance of tradition. The townspeople’s blind acceptance is showcased for their tradition by the failure to understand the true purpose of the lottery. It’s obvious that people who follow blindly with traditions have no idea about the true meaning or the purpose behind said tradition. The people in the town also lack desire to fully grasp the purpose of the tradition. It is clearly shown throughout that the townspeople overtime

When ideas of improvement were brought up, such as Mr. Summers’ suggestion “about making a new box,” (1) no one seemed too excited about it, because nobody seemed to want change. If the townspeople shared the same principles that had started the tradition of the lottery or even understood them, then they would not forget the specifics of the lottery yet instead, they become upset at the suggestion to add to or change tradition. The lack of understanding the purpose behind the given tradition shows the reader that the follower has blindly accepted themselves into the