In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there are certain traditions that are upheld by the characters in the story. These characters that Jackson created are not even sure why they are following the traditions. This story shows the reader how mankind will react to different situations that they are put into. Even when something is going bad or is wrong, people will not be a leader and stop it. The characters in this story should not have tolerated with the inhumane tradition that was held every year. The characters in this story are extremely stubborn about the traditions that they follow. Most of them continue with it because they do not want to be exiled from society. They keep the tradition going just because they feel that it is the right thing to do no matter how horrifying the …show more content…
Being a spectator and not doing anything about it even if you think something is wrong with what is happening. Clearly publicly executing someone is an inhumane thing to do no matter where you live. Having children and possibly the children of whoever is being executed take part in the execution is dreadful. Mrs. Hutchinson is crying and pleading for her life when she wins the lottery. There is no reason to put a citizen of a community through that. These characters think they are being humane by not going against tradition, but they are doing the opposite and are being inhumane. The lottery can’t be tolerated in any way. No one should have to die just because they have bad luck. Therefore, all the characters in the story are being inhumane by going through with this tradition. At least one of them should have stepped up and not participated to send a message against this inhumane activity that is held every year. It can be seen today and happens in the world today. Humans want to be followers to make their lives easier instead of taking leadership and making everyone else’s lives
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Show MoreTradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackon's short story The Lottery. Images such as the black box and characters such as Old Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Hutchinson display to the reader not only the tenacity with which the townspeople cling to the tradition of the lottery, but also the wavering support of it by others. In just a few pages, Jackson manages to examine the sometimes long forgotten purpose of rituals, as well as the inevitable questioning of the necessity for such customs.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
The people of a small village in New england practiced a very deadly tradition. Every year they would participate in what was called the lottery, Every adult would randomly select a white piece of paper from an old black box and hope that it was not marked with a black dot, for there was no money at the end of this lottery rather death awaited the unlucky drawer. The victim would be stoned by everyone in the village until they died. This tradition had been carried out for years, generation after generation countless people would be wrongfully stoned to death and the only explanation for this inhumane activity was “It 's what we’ve always done”. “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago … no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson), It was almost as if the people of this village were afraid of change, afraid that is would somehow disturbed the atmosphere and upset their great ancestors, it was almost as if the lottery was their sacrificial offering to maintain peace within themselves. The idea of groupthink was missing in the story, no form of communication was made concerning this absurd tradition, those who tried to bring it were disregarded, this supports the dictatorship side of groupthink, the one where only one person (the mayor) would speak and everyone else would obey without
The short story “ The Lottery ” the author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and imagery to develop a theme the brings forth the evil and inhumane nature of tradition and the danger of when it’s carried out with ignorance.
Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role on how they go by there everyday lives. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relation to tradition. The story begins on a beautiful summer afternoon. The town's citizens are eager, gathering in the town square in order to take part in the yearly lottery. With the story focused around one particular family, the Hutchinsons, who are so anxious to get it all over with until they find that one of their members is to participate in the lottery's closing festivities, Tessie. Of course unlike your typical lotteries, this is not one that you would want to win. The one chosen from the lottery is to undertake a cruel and unusual death by stoning at the hands of their fellow townsmen for the sake that it may bring a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Ironically, many of the towns people have suggested that the lottery be put to an end, but most find the idea unheard of being that they have lived in it's practice for most of their lives. The story conveys a message that traditions may be valued so highly that those in their practice may do everything they can to ensure that they continue in accordance. From this a question arises. How far would one go to ensure their sacred traditions remain unscathed?
In “The Lottery”, the villagers followed the tradition without thinking about the origin of it. They even forgot the rituals and the chants for this tradition. Similarly, in Fineman’s article, the citizens of Pandhurn followed the tradition and it became all about bravery and looks in front of the camera. They did not think about what they were doing. Also in Milgram’s experiment, the idea was about how people follow orders from people of authority
Shirley Jackson wrote many books in her life, but she was well known by people for her story “The Lottery” (Hicks). “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948, in the New Yorker magazine (Schilb). The story sets in the morning of June 27th in a small town. The townspeople gather in the square to conduct their annual tradition, the Lottery. The winner of the lottery will stoned to death by the society. Although there is no main character in the story, the story develops within other important elements. There are some important elements of the story that develop the theme of the story: narrator and its point of view, symbolism, and main conflict. The story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, argues practicing a tradition without understanding the meaning of the practice is meaningless and dangerous.
Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.
Although one may think that the tradition is horrible, the town does not. They see it as something that brings them together on one day of the year. The people live in fear of this tradition because they don’t want to be chosen. It seems as though the people can’t think for themselves and they are scared of changed. The people do not know who started the tradition nor why it was started in the first place. They never talk about previous winners and towards the end, we still don’t know what happens to the Hutchinson family. The lack of freedom in this story is what Thoreau is fighting for in Civil Disobedience. It’s hard to win that fight when society only knows one way and it’s constantly controlled by the people in power.
Today, we pride ourselves as being a fair and just society. We take advantage of the liberties and freedoms given to us each day. The traditions that lie in our cultures, beliefs and customs, provide us with a sense of security and happiness. However, there is a much different consensus conveyed through the cruel and barbaric customs subsiding in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery." The unsubstantial ritual of this society reveals te traditions and blind obedience of a small village town. Moreover, the characters stress the importance of questioning what is put forth to an individual as opposed to what an individual contemplates. While a disturbing evilness exists and is concealed out of the norms of this society, Shirley Jackson shows how colness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding traditions and values.
In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” suggest that the lottery is not a lottery that most people think of but a lottery that consists of losing a life. Jackson supports her claims by the use of irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing to depict the impact of following tradition. The author’s purpose is to point out that tradition is not always a good thing in order to do that Jackson end the story with something as horrible as death. The author writes in an ironic tone to suggest that people follow traditions that maybe not acceptable to society.
An example of a bad tradition is the hazing that is often required to join a fraternity. Often times, a student attempting to join a fraternity is required to participate in an initiation ritual and these rituals have resulted in death multiple times. Similarly, the tradition in “The Lottery” results in death. After each member of the community has drawn a ticket, each person reveals their prize. The one unlucky individual who draws a the ticket with a black spot on it is required to take his family back up and redraw. The family member who then draws the black spot is stoned to death by the remaining members of the community.
"The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice. The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens. On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice. Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about. Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective use of foreshadowing through the depiction of characters and setting. Effective foreshadowing builds anticipation for the climax and ultimately the main theme of the story - the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and cruelty.
In "The Lottery" Shirley Jackson fills her story with many literary elements to mask the evil. The story demonstrates how it is in human nature to blindly follow traditions. Even if the people have no idea why they follow.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that brings to light the problems a society faces when blindly following traditions. Due to a tradition as old as the town itself, every year someone is forced to draw the “black spot.” This black spot means that person is stoned to death, regardless of family status or even age. Communities have a tendency to stick to traditions, regardless of how logical it may or may not be, how old it is, or even whether or not everyone understands why they continue it; and traditions should always have their importance reevaluated.