Tradition is a way in which anybody can express their beliefs and creativity in any way they want. In the short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson shows how blindly following tradition can sometimes be atrocious to morality. Every year, there’s a lottery held to decide the next sacrifice to the gods. It was the sunny morning of June 27th; people of a small town were gathered in the square of the village. In this small village, only two hours are needed to conduct the lottery while other villages need days, for they had larger populations.
Questioning 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.
Hutchingson contributes to the continued existence of an oppressive system that restricts individual autonomy and maintains a climate of dread in the neighborhood by actively upholding the lottery tradition. Her steadfast dedication is a perfect example of the influence that traditions have over people, suppressing critical thought and encouraging obedience. Mrs. Hutchingson's active engagement serves as a reminder that oppressive events are ongoing, breathing forces that shape and influence people's lives, rather than being historical artifacts. Her constant loyalty to tradition not only represents her personal perspective but also the community as a whole. The statement by Jackson that "No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box" sums up the widespread aversion to upsetting long-standing
Tradition plays a vital role in shaping our cultural identity and is often passed down from previous generations. However, there is a difference between following tradition for its cultural significance and blindly adhering to it. The effect of blindly following tradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackson's short story “The Lottery.” In the story, a small village follows an annual tradition of sacrificing one of their own through a lottery. Despite the morally wrong nature of the tradition, the community prioritizes preserving their cultural heritage over the well-being of its own individuals.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the practice of tradition versus what would be considered morally right is perhaps born out of fear of taking a step back rather than progressing so people choose to stick with what is considered the safe route rather than stepping into the world of the unknown in an attempt to save themselves in the long run. Many times people blindly follow a tradition because it is something that has been done for many years, but no one ever seems to stop and question why it is we follow these certain traditions. Tessie Hutchinson, a woman who lives in the village who went along with the tradition of the lottery and never questioned it, that is until she is the “lucky winner” of the June 27th lottery where she calls foul
The battle of conforming to a society's rules and regulations for the sake of peace and unity is a topic that takes up a lot of space in one's head. Does a person change who they are for the well-being of others? I do not believe so. Conformity through tradition is not necessary for societies to function and thrive. Conformist values lead to a lack of human rights, dependency issues, and overall the death of diversity within a community.
Annotated Bibliography 1. Jackson The Lottery By: Yarmove, Jay A. Explicator. Summer94, Vol. 52 Issue 4, p242. 4p.
Essay 1- The Lottery The Lottery Author Shirley Jackson who wrote the short story The Lottery outlines the dangers of participating in traditional rituals and free thinking. This short story is set in a small southern town where a lottery pick happens every year, and the winner is stoned to death by the civilians of the town. The public execution is not known until the very end of the story.
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story that explores the lottery tradition a small village practiced for generations. Throughout the years of the village performing the lottery ritual, misconceptions of how to accurately enact the lottery arose. The original box and wooden chips were replaced with a new box and paper while the tradition of singing was completely lost. (1 Jackson) The villagers questioned whether they should perform the lottery as other villages have already quit the tradition however the oldest man in the village warns if they do not play the lottery it will cause misfortune to their village.
"The Lottery" is about a small town's tradition of holding an annual lottery. The community gathers each year to draw a piece of paper, and the winner of the lottery is stoned to death. The ending of the video is surprising because the audience discovers that the lottery is not for a prize, but rather to select a person to be stoned to death. This realization is shocking because it goes against the viewer’s expectations of what a lottery should be and reveals the horrifying nature of the tradition. At the beginning of the video, the town's annual lottery is introduced as a fun tradition that has taken place for generations.
Summers, who runs the lottery, carrying a black box into the town square. This box is not the original box used for the lottery, however, it is older than any citizen of the town. Due to its age, the box is in poor condition and Mr. Summers wants to replace it. Regardless, the citizens refuse to switch the box out because it is part of the sacred tradition. This refusal to change expresses how connected to the lottery the town is and how unwilling to improve it they are.
They have no evidence that this tradition works, or if it ever has, only that their ancestors have done it for centuries. Jackson's use of tradition shows the readers that often, in society, we are followers. Following the lead of others and their decisions and opinions, mindlessly like a flock of sheep. We follow these with no context because we don’t want to fit outside the societal ‘normalities,’ Jackson is urging the readers to question others’ choices and challenge the decisions others make for us. Whilst the victims of the lottery paid the ultimate price for their utter blindness to this tradition, we, readers, can learn from the error of their ways.
Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is a story where it is powered by tradition where someone wins the lottery to be stoned to death. It is an annual event where family members or friends are randomly selected to be stoned to death for a tradition where it will bring the harvest to their village. Though no one remembers the reasons, everyone in the village acts confident of the kind of practice and welcomes it. The short story focuses mainly on the power of tradition and ritual. Having tradition and ritual is dangerous; it can cost them ethical and moral responsibility.
Abby Conlon Gilchrist English 1102 9 April 2023 “The Lottery” Lotteries can be defined in many different ways; the common theme between them is that within a community, someone becomes chosen. Today's most typical lottery is lottery tickets at the grocery store and gas stations. It's a common addiction today because people are money-hungry. Everyone wants to win the money and be chosen. A more negative and life-threatening version of this is shown in the Vietnam War in 1969 when they held drafts where all eligible men were required to participate, and the men chosen were sent to war.
Yes I am surprised that everyone went along with it. I am surprised because they do not know who is going to die so they are all basically drawing to have a chance to die at first i thought that the lottery was where they were all drawing at a chance of winning money . Later on in the story we realized that the lottery was not winning money but it was where they stoned the person who picked the paper with the black dot. Yes i think that they are influenced because whenever someone does it to and then they all start to want to participate. I also think that the people went along with it because all of their friends and family where doing it so they wanted to.
