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What Are The Faults Of Tradition In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

389 Words2 Pages

In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author comments on the faults of tradition in modern society. She asserts that certain traditions, even though they are obsolete and no longer serve any purpose, have become so widely accepted that people fail to see the problems in them. This commentary is expressed through the opinions of Old Man Warner, who, when a conversation concerning other villages that have eradicated the lottery arises, says, “Pack of crazy fools...nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore...there’s always been a lottery.” (7) This illustrates how he believes that not continuing the lottery is primitive, while he overlooks his own barbarism by

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