Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

“The Lottery” By Shirley Jackson The Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The setting is a small village of about 300 people. The date is June 27th. It is a warm, clear, and sunny day. Flowers are blooming, and the grass is green. By all account’s it is simple summer day. The kids are playing and collecting stones. The villagers are going about their normal activities. Families are starting to gather together in the square for the annual village lottery. The writer helps readers identify early on with the people of the village. We can all relate to social gatherings where we interact and converse about life, weather, and other mundane topics relating to everyday life. “Through these details Jackson allows us to identify

It involves strict protocol and everyone in the village participates. As part of the ritual, a black box is filled with pieces of paper. One of the pieces contains a black mark. Whoever chooses the marked paper is subsequently stoned to death. Everyone participates in the stoning, even the children. The story depicts how without hesitation or question, the villagers follow this long standing, yet violent tradition. Tessie Hutchinson chooses the marked paper during the second drawing and argues the fairness of the lottery. Tessie is ultimately stoned to death by the villagers. Her family readily participates in the stoning. Her young son Davey is given stones to throw as well. The story shows the strength of the lottery and its profound effect on the villagers and their deep loyalty to this dreadful tradition over the love of their family. Immediately following the lottery, the village people return to life as normal as a reflection of their lack of conscience or guilt over their actions during this ritual. Because this has been a part of history for the villagers they have lost their sense of reality by accepting this behavior. Although the reason for the lottery is never really understood or even questioned by the villagers, they exhibit a very dangerous societal acceptance of a very deadly ritual. The larger meaning of this story is about understanding how the lottery ritual can survive throughout history and have such a profound impact on an otherwise civilized