Essay On Outdated Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

In “The Lottery”, an outdated tradition puts one person at eminent irrefutable death per year. What are some outdated traditions that exist today? Do any of them relate to the extremity of this tradition? “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is based on outdated traditions. The biggest idea of this story is that one person is sacrificed per year because it is the tradition. In the black box, there are blank slips of paper but only one has a black dot. Tessie Hutchinson chose the slip of paper that had this dot which meant that the rest of the town stoned her to death, for it was part of their tradition. This story includes biblical references such as comparison to the specific story of "The Adulterous Woman", connections to the Bible in Mrs. Delacroix's

The story includes the Delacroix family, Delacroix being Latin for “cross”. In the end, Mrs. Delacroix indisputably crosses Tessie by throwing the largest stone at her. “... selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Hurry up.’” (Jackson 7). For one, Jesus carried the cross. Additionally, he had also been crossed due to the betrayal against him from his own friends. The Bible includes a story of how Judas was unfaithful to Jesus. A crowd of people carrying cubs and swords stood behind Judas. “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 'Greetings, Rabbi!' and kissed him. Jesus replied, 'Friend, do what you came for.' Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him” (Matthew 26:47-50). Jesus trusted Judas but because Judas disagreed with Jesus’ intentions that veered away from becoming a strong political leader, he led Jesus to his arrest (Graham paragraph 2). Both texts provide evidence of “crossing”, either used literally and figuratively. Next, Steve Adams’ last name has relation to the Bible. Adams was the first man to reach into the black box. Mr. Summers called his name, they exchanged greetings, grinning at one another “humorlessly and nervously”. “He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in

For one, realizing these connections and references can change the reader’s interpretation of the story. “The Adulterous Woman”, the Delacroix’s, Mr. Adams’ and Graves’ names all make the story becomes more ironic. To illustrate, Mr. Graves bringing in the black box is ironic because he is bringing someone to their grave, to put it one way (Jackson 1). If the reader realizes this, as well as the other connections, their interpretation could become clearer and the story becomes more captivating. Continuously, the biblical references create a non-superficial meaning for the story. It would be a common tendency to overlook the names of the characters, but going more in-depth into them would make the story more interesting to read. Connections to Bible stories would also make the story more understandable, like the relation to “The Adulterous Woman”. Lastly, the biblical links to “The Lottery” can open a door for ethical questions. Because the Bible would generally preach about doing things of good-nature like, for example, loving your neighbor as He has loved us, these connections show what would not be ideal to do. To illustrate, the connection of the rock throwing from both “The Lottery” and “The Adulterous Woman” can lead to whether or not the reasons behind both stories’ stoning/potential stoning is