The Negative Consequences Of Tradition In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

“The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (93). Old Man Warner had been in the lottery for 77 years, and the black box had been used for the lottery longer than that. This proves that the lottery was a long tradition, and the village is not going to stop doing that, even though they lose one person every year. The reason the lottery is still going on in this village is because of the tradition of it. “‘Some places have already quit lotteries,’ Mrs. Adams said.

In The Lottery, the characters of the story follow traditional ideas, however they do not inquire about these ideas that are not moral at all. Initially, the people of a small village have a lottery that occurs each year in which the winner ironically doesn’t win money, but wins a ticket to death. The villagers show no sign of excitement, but they are rather demonstrating that an event such as this one is not fun at all. In addition to that, the box is a major symbol in the story. The box is very shabby, demonstrating that they don’t take care of it or fix it.

She said, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up bad habits and learning Lord-knows-what” (Lee 301). This statement shows that she believed the Finch family would look bad if she allowed Scout to play with someone like Walter. This statement also causes the readers to collate her with Hilly when they realize that they both treasure the reputation of their family. In conclusion, Hilly and Aunt Alexandra both value their status in the towns they reside in and wish to maintain it.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a dramatic and suspenseful short story about a small town that has a strange ritual. The town pulls out papers out of a box, if you pull out a paper with a mark, you are stoned to death. The town is split on whether the lottery should take place or not. Instead of watching others while they are causing harm to people, take action to make sure it does not happen again. Unless the people who disagree with the lottery rebel, they might never be able to overcome this horrible circumstance.

The extreme tradition in Shirley Jackson's, "The Lottery," produces no positive difference, but rather only a negative difference. The traditional belief upheld by the agrarian village in Jackson's story is human sacrifice, which aims at satisfying their gods so that they may have a copious harvest. When the lottery session determined that Tessie Hutchinson won the lottery, she said in response, "it isn't fair." (Reading Literature and Writing Argument) Tessie believed prior to winning the lottery that she was going to lose; however, she became a victim of her overconfidence. I contend that Tessie believed the lottery was a fair system until she became its victim, which is probably true for all the other villagers.

“The Lottery”, a horror story created by Shirley Jackson, is about a moderate sized village that sacrifices innocent villagers in a forsaken lottery for the sake of tradition, and for their belief of good fortune that will arise. This story presents a lot of themes that relate to the real world, and these themes revolve around the negatives of society such as shunning, and forced indoctrination. One theme demonstrated was the theme of tradition versus progress. Tradition is not always right because it prevents society from progressing forward. Shirley Jackson vividly presents that theme through the characters’ malicious actions.

At a young age, citizens are aware of the scape goat in their community; they at first aren’t sure what to think about the situation, but most eventually conclude that it is more important to continue in their own prosperity and goodness. They choose to selfishly neglect the child so not to risk the entire communities’ luxurious lives by attempting to save the child. After coming to that decision, one will never be truly happy since the thought is still deep in their mind. This causes guilt to consume

He’s the rotten model that parents hold aloft as warning: This is how you’ll end up if you’re disobedient. Jasper Jones is the example of where poor aptitude and attitude will lead.” .Thusly, he is avoided by most of the similarly aged youth as their parents advise against associating themselves with him. Charlie however, sees Jasper for who he is, and is able to identify that Jasper is being used as the town’s scapegoat because he is of mixed ethnic background, and that his thievery is morally justified. Though Jasper is isolated, he is still appreciated by his football team as he is skilful in this field as well as being a year older than the other kids in his

Through the use of characterization and symbolism Jackson establishes that blindly following traditions can be hazardous An example of characterization used by Jackson to help communicate the theme is when Mr. Summers is presenting the black box to the villagers. He suggests, “making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” His claim of stating an obvious but well thought response shows how Jackson put Mr.Summers as an innocent man trying to convey his idea that the tradition should be gone. Since, the general populace did not want the tradition to change, it would explain the events that further led to a malicious murdering. The use of characterization is next appears when Old Man Warner was talking about how giving up the lottery is crazy. Warner contested the saying how “Lottery in June,

Thomas 1 Joshua Thomas Ashley Allee English 115 February 23,2017 Compare and Contrast Essay Both Katniss and Tessie question the reasons for the continue the tradition each year and allowing the cruel activities to continue causing deaths each year through the lottery and reaping. In their own way both Tessie and Katniss are rebellious towards the demands of the government. Even Tessie complains to the villagers while Katniss acts out, but both resent the level of intrusion into their levels. But each character resent the government intrusion into their towns life. In each story the government demands someone death as punishment or to appease their tradition.

“The Lottery,” a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a woman who has been selected for sacrifice by a lottery drawing. Tessie Hutchinson, and the rest of her town, are unfeeling about how the annual sacrifice affects the selected. However, they carry on with their tradition year after year, with no intent to make changes to meet modern day morals and needs. “The Lottery” is about blindly following tradition, the awareness of how cruel a practice sacrificing is, and how one’s mindset can change when they are the chosen one. (1) When one blindly follows tradition, they become unmindful.

That person, no matter how old or young, ends up being stoned to death. Themes The Lottery deals with the theme of Traditions and Rituals. Everyone in the town blindly follows the annual tradition of the lottery. No matter how sickening it is, no one dares to question it because this tradition has been around for so long. Longer than the eldest person in the town, Old Man Warner.

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

Who will win, what do they win? While in charge of the “lottery”, Mr. Summers doesn’t support its traditions and feels the town should end it like a few surrounding towns have recently done. To him, the black box represents death and bad traditions in the community. His community members think it 's “Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.” They fear the young people are the ones changing the traditions and ending this tradition will lead to other breakdowns in society. Mr. Summers is the one adult questioning the tradition.

Atticus became not only a role model for Scout and Jem but a role model for the whole town. He taught you not to be so quick to judge everything. From Boo Radley to Walter Cunningham, he shows how to accept people for who they are and to get know them before you judge them. “Because that is they only way he can pay me, he has no money” (Lee 21). When Scout saw the Cunninghams paying in different things like Hickory nuts and Stovewood, she was quick to question the payment.