Dangers Of Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
A tradition or idea that is followed and not questioned by some could potentially be dangerous or illogical. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the dangers of blindly following a tradition is portrayed. In “The Lottery,” a village gathers around every year on June 27th to hold a lottery. Mr. Summers leads the tradition every year. This lottery is very unusual; the winner will become the loser. The Hutchinson family is chosen at this year’s lottery. The mother, Tessie says it is unfair and she is ultimately the chosen winner of the lottery. The winner of this lottery is stoned to death by their neighbors. Whether a tradition is immoral or not, some follow traditions for no apparent reason other just following what they were taught. …show more content…
Jackson demonstration of irony is very prevalent throughout the story. The lottery is being held on a “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day” (291). It’s ironic that the lottery is being held on a beautiful summer day, the description of the weather gives the impression that the tradition is something good. The Hutchinson family is chosen for the lottery and Mrs. Hutchinson claims it’s unfair. The whole family has to draw again. The irony of the lottery is that it’s random and everyone has the same chance of being picked, it also exposes what kind of character Mrs. Hutchinson is. Mrs. Hutchinson at first is thought to be a caring mother, but when under pressure, instead of attempting to protect her children, she selfishly wanted to include all her children, specifically her married daughter, in the drawing to make them “take their chance” (299), to improve her chances of survival. Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Hutchinson are good friends, joking about Mrs. Hutchinson’s tardiness to the drawing. Although they’re friends, “Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (301) and promotes the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson. The irony of the friendship is that the ritual is so embedded in the community that Mrs. Delacroix does not hesitate to murder her good
Blindly Accepting Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
586 Words | 3 PagesUnhindered and celebrated annually, the Lottery has long been ingrained in the village society as a normal way of life. Moreover, the entirety of the village murder Mrs. Hutchinson for the sole reason of practicing a tradition. Lastly, the villagers have flagrantly forgotten about parts of the lottery, not realizing what has changed. Using the utensil of the short story, Shirley Jackson was able to criticize those who blindly accepted their traditions and
Theme Of Blindly Accepting Traditions In The Lottery By Shirly Jackson
571 Words | 3 PagesWithin “The Lottery,” author Shirly Jackson embeds the theme of blindly accepting traditions as illustrated by the actions of the villagers. For example, the Lottery is presented as an event that has always occurred throughout the region's history. Likewise, the author states multiple times that parts of the traditional Lottery have changed unnoticed by the villagers. Finally, the “murder” of Tessie Hutchinson is nonchalantly committed by the entire village. To start off, a brief history of the lottery is given to the reader which quickly implants the idea that the Lottery is an event that has occurred annually for hundreds of years within the village and surrounding area without any disruption.
Questioning Traditions In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson
294 Words | 2 PagesQuestioning Traditions Traditions can be part of one 's culture but should they be changed? The author’s purpose is to make the reader’s question some traditions. In the story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, uses tone and mood to make the reader question the tradition of stoning people. In the story, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseni uses person vs person conflict to make the reader question the tradition of calling unwanted kids harami. In the story, “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut, uses person vs society conflict to make the reader question the tradition of population control.
The Lottery Tradition Analysis
569 Words | 3 PagesMany people would die to win the lottery; in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson you would do anything NOT to win this lottery. This annual lottery reveals the negative aspects of this town’s Tradition, Savagery, Barbarism, and cold-heartedness. In this paper I will show why this town blindly follows these customs, not because it’s a tradition but because of the accepting wickedness that can be shown. Why does the town follow this foolish tradition? Throughout “The Lottery” the narrator tells that the people do not remember how the lottery began, and that some of the older people believe the lottery has changed over the years, that now people just want to get it over with as fast as possible.
Viciousness In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
78 Words | 1 PagesShirley Jackson's "The Lottery" additionally indicates the inclination for viciousness that people have. The youngsters excitedly accumulate stones, for case. What's more, Mrs. Delacroix, who has quite recently been conversing with Tessie Hutchinson then gets a stone so expansive that she needs two hands for it and swings to Mrs. Dunbar advising her, "Come on...Hurry up." These activities are reflected in the cultivated social affairs at games occasions where individuals are amicable, yet things can rapidly turn
Destruction by Conformity: An Analysis of Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'
718 Words | 3 PagesThe world is currently affected by the foulest illness of all: conformity. Many people are nervous to stray away from tradition in fear of being an outcast, even if that means following customs like racism and sexism, which causes chaos among the country. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” displays this morbid reality when a town of villagers gathers to obey their annual tradition. Although this event appears at first to be pleasant and festive, it soon becomes clear that the prize is not something of value. The “winner”, it turns out, will be stoned to death.
Shirley Jackson The Lottery Rhetorical Analysis
871 Words | 4 PagesWhen the twelve year old Nancy “[goes] forward switching her skirt, [taking] a slip daintily from the box,” the audience is struck by her innocence, making the subsequent death of her mother via the lottery outcome even more terrible and tragic. A still more effective example of Jackson’s appeals to pathos occurs at the end of the story, where “someone [gives] little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” to join the crowd in stoning his mother. This moment is incredibly poignant and elevates the disgust and pity that the audience feels as the nature of the lottery is revealed. Little Davy is too young understand what is happening, and it is reasonable to assume that the rest of the characters have long since lost touch with the purpose of the lottery, as the only explanation the audience is given for its continuation is Warner’s statement that “there’s always been a lottery.” This remarkably insufficient excuse in support of such a heinous crime secures the sympathy of the audience towards not only Tessie’s plight but also Jackson’s argument.
The Lottery Tradition Essay
501 Words | 3 PagesTraditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining
Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
367 Words | 2 Pages“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson shares a story of a town keeping up with tradition by having an annual lottery, except this lottery doesn’t end in a happy ending. Instead, the winner wins a death sentence by getting stoned. These actions can only be explained by Jackson’s use of representation of tradition. First, the lottery itself represents the ideals of a faraway past where “rituals” actually mattered to the health of a town.
Examples Of Foreshadowing In The Lottery
597 Words | 3 PagesAndrew McManus Mrs. Erlbaum Ela January 17, 2023, Blind Tradition The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said “tradition will accustom people to any atrocity.” In Shirley Jackson's “ The Lottery” a small village blindly follows a crazy tradition that accustoms people to terrible and unreliable ways. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a story about a terrible tradition when people of a small village follow a blind tradition that they don’t know anything about. The people of this small farming village have a lottery every year and they sacrifice one person to get stoned every year in a lottery drawing.
The Negative Consequences Of Tradition In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
467 Words | 2 PagesThe tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.
The Lottery Argumentative Essay
691 Words | 3 PagesThe purpose of the lottery is to continue the old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order for a harvest. The scapegoat is chosen at random and then stoned to death by his/her companions. Although “The Lottery” reflects an event from the past, Jackson shows that many of the actions of the town resemble the tribulations that ensue in today’s society. To begin with, like the villagers in the story, our society also partakes in valuing tradition.
Human Nature In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery
1220 Words | 5 PagesThe participants of the lottery were familiar with one another either as neighbors or family and yet readily turned on one another in adherence to the lottery rite. This is counter to what makes a community binding and strong. That friends turn against friends, neighbors turn against neighbors is exemplified when Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Delacroix “both laughed softly” (Jackson 141). The two women are familiar with one another and share a laugh when Mrs. Hutchinson arrives to attend the lottery event revealing how wicked human nature can be, as Mrs. Delacroix readily turns on Mrs. Hutchinson. The ability to have a friend, yet turn on that person so readily is a gauge of how emotionally removed the participants are from one another; however, it is especially conspicuous when Bill Hutchinson, Mrs. Hutchinson’s husband “forced the slip of paper out of her hand” (Jackson 144).
Examples Of Irony In The Lottery
1191 Words | 5 PagesJust because a tradition has been around for a long time doesn't mean you necessarily have to follow it, especially if you are against the outcome of being chosen. Living in a small village it might be hard to say “no” without getting judged by the other villagers, but at the end of the day you need to think about yourself and how the outcome will end up affecting your life. Shirley Jackson creates a suspenseful and captive story by using irony in “ The Lottery ”. Irony is a technique that involves surprising, interesting,or amusing contradictions or contrast (Teaching...1).
Use Of Mood In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
418 Words | 2 PagesIn Shirley Jackson’s short story , “The Lottery” Jackson’s word choice helps to create a peaceful mood.. However, in the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins portrays an anxious mood. Suzanne Collins and Shirley Jackson use setting and characters actions to create a particular mood. In “the Lottery”, setting and character’s actions creates mood that is peaceful.
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