Similarities Between The Giver And The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Recommended: Tradition and its value

Memories and tradition are common things that most people like to follow and learn from. Memories let us look into the past and learn from our mistakes, giving us ideas on how to deal with the present and future. Meanwhile traditions form themselves into a way of life and show people different ways to do things. This is shown in both The Giver, by Lois Lowry and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, when characters use memories or traditions to get around in life. To start, throughout The Giver, Lois Lowry develops the theme of memories from the past. The memories give Jonas and the Giver knowledge from the past. Since they are the only ones in their community to have the memories, they can have feelings and learn from history, which others can’t. When Jonas starts his training, he is receiving …show more content…

During this time, everyone is tense, and at first, people follow the tradition and choose slips of paper. However, when the Hutchinson family gets chosen for the lottery, they become anxious. This further establishes the theme of tradition, because when Mrs. Hutchinson learns that she got chosen, she starts arguing and getting mad, saying that it’s not fair. Despite the fact that many villagers would rather do without the lottery, many older villagers think that it is a proper tradition that shouldn’t be discontinued. Old Man Warner, a villager who has been doing the lottery for 77 years, always encourages the lottery and thinks anyone who doesn’t is a fool. “‘Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,’” he says. “First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery,’” [30]. This explains that since there has been a lottery for so long, people don’t want to give it up and stop, because they believe that they wouldn’t get a good harvest if they

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    Old Man Warner recalls a part of the tradition from earlier lotteries which was,”Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” (Jackson 257). The lottery is being done as a sacrifice which would lead to a good harvest season. Without it, the people would be living off small, insufficient foods. Another way Jackson lets her readers believe the lottery is good is by describing the lottery day as “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day” (Jackson 254).

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    Every year, the lottery is held, and every year a person is killed. Each villager neglects to acknowledge the unjustness of the lottery and continue to participate because of the tradition it represents in their society. The lottery was a cultural tradition passed down from the very first settlers of the village. It makes up a huge part of the village’s history and culture. The villagers pay recognition to their culture by continuing the tradition of the lottery even though the lottery is not morally right. On page 93 it states, “There was a proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year… There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came to draw from the box…” This quote shows the tribal-like rituals and traditions associated with the lottery. Through the years, some of the rituals of the lottery were lost, but the main elements of the lottery remained the same. The idea behind the lottery was that the ancestors, of the villagers, believed that human sacrifice would bring in good harvest. This led to the development and continuation

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  • Irony in the Story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

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    The plot as a whole in “The Lottery” is filled with ironic twists. The whole idea of a lottery is to win something, and the reader is led to believe that the winner will receive some prize, when in actuality they will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers act very nonchalant upon arriving at the lottery; which makes it seem as if it is just another uneventful day in a small town. Considering the seriousness of the consequences of the lottery, the villagers do not make a big deal about it. Under the same note it is ironic that many of the original traditions of the lottery, such as the recital and the salute, had long been forgotten. All that the villagers seemed to remember was the ruthless killing of a random person. It also seems strange that they let the equipment for the lottery, the black box, get into such a poor condition.

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