Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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The Lottery, Short Story by Shirley Jackson

Jackson’s short story of daily life in an idyllic rural village in America. It is about tradition and culture of family life, which includes the villages` characters such as: husbands, wives and their children. The theme of tradition is prevalent throughout the Lottery.
Jackson’s title “The Lottery” is initially misleading. The story slowly gathers momentum all is not it seems until what is enacted at the story’s dramatic ending. This ending is difficult to predict due to the story-line and the conspicuous use of foreshadowing that includes a perspective from which Jackson writes from that is against habitual tendencies due to its dramatic ending.

The story innocently commences …show more content…

This is not the intention by Jackson, she has set the story up that a reader is comfortable with the early narrative, lulling the reader into a false sense of security.
However, the ritual killing of Tessie Hutchison, a wife, who is also a mother, a fellow villager stoned to death by all the adults and children alike. Even her daughters laughed when they found out they did not win the Lottery, knowing full well that in a few minutes they would have to stone to death a member of their own family. This is a horrific ending that is hard to envisage due to Jackson’s bland initial story line, despite her many hints. The story has to be read a few times before an understanding is reached as it is only when one realises the end one understands much of the story’s initial content.

At the outset of this story nothing much happened, this is unusual in that the outcome or real nature is realised by the reader only until the end of the story. This end is difficult to predict due to the slow build up and veiled hints of what is going to happen due to the perspective Jackson takes due hinting about sects, religion and rituals. She uses copious amounts of

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