The Theme Of Blind Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

These people are scared they know what is coming, it goes on to say “he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, we have had exactly two.” (Collins, 19). In the span of seventy-four years only having to people win at this crazy game doesn’t give much hope to those selected or their families. People are scared for themselves and for their loved ones this is clear in the way the other describes the scene. There is silence and fear, there is no one laughing and playing around they know what is coming.

Shirley Jackson uses symbolism of the black box to convey a theme about how a person’s whole life can change when one little implement is made different or messed with in the short story, “The Lottery.” For instance, Mr. Summers frequently spoke about making a new box, but “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (26). In conclusion, people are unhappy when tradition or anything in their life is messed with and changed. A 4th of July without fireworks would not be the same if it was removed from the tradition because everyone looks forward to it. Overall if one part of something changes then it ruins the whole system and it does not feel the same. Shirley Jackson also elaborates how men are at a higher

“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 short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is the foundation for dystopian fiction.”Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones”(Jackson 7).They did not care if the box was lost or about the ritual they just remembered they were supposed to kill who ever got drawn out of a bowl or box to throw stones at them.This piece of evidence shows dystopian because no one would ever be able to do that without going to jail or killed.Another piece of evidence is when they started to throw the stone as said, “A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone"(Jackson 7).This quote means that when the girl got picked for the tradition

She told someone she was late, and Mr. Summers said, “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie” (94). Now the whole village knows she is late, so she tried to make a joke when Bill, her husband, went up to draw. “Hutchinson.’ ‘Get up there, Bill,’ Mrs. Hutchinson said, and the people near her laughed.” This is the reason why Bill picked the paper with the black dot. Later in the story, Mrs. Hutchinson complained to Mr. Summers that didn’t give Bill enough time to pick a slip of paper that he wanted. Actually, it was her fault for rushing Bill to the square.

The people of the village have come to acknowledge the custom as something they do to amuse themselves; losing the real meaning of The Lottery. The children in the story have no background information about the tradition, yet insanely, they are the first ones to get “… the pile of stones…ready” (Jackson, p 51). The stones go on to suggest the cruelty of the people of the village as it provides a slow and painful death. “The Lottery” demonstrates how a tradition that drives the society can be completely forgotten through the years. While

Even through all of the trouble that still did not slow them down. Instead of fighting with a fist, African American and several people of different races had boycotts and marches to show that it was time for a change. They felt it was time to say “No justice no peace”. No more would they have to look down or look away when a white person is coming down the street. No more, would they have to explain to a broken hearted child that they cannot spend the night or go over their white friend house because their parents would not allow that.

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 judges knew that the witchcraft was a myth but didn’t do anything about it. Danforth and Hathorne often rejected logical facts and refused to head testimonies proving innocence because so many people were accused. After a while, it became clear to everyone in the town, including the judges, the accusations were false. These judges instead of revealing the truth they clung to their pride and ignored what was happening in front of them. If word got out that they sent several innocent people to their deaths their reputation would be ruined and they would be out of their jobs.

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. A majority thinks they are right until they are able realize they are wrong; and only on the outside, are they able to see it all for what it really is on the inside. In "The Lottery," tradition continues to exist, because those who have the fortune of seeing why it's wrong, are unfortunately killed before they can spread their discovery; similarly, majorities squelch the ideas of minorities to prolong their

Equality broke the law of no being with everybody, and not being in the place he was suppose to be at, he also didn’t report it straight to the council like he was suppose too. Conformity took place here because he didn’t report it to the council like he was suppose to and broke the laws. “It was a great tunnel. The walls were hard and smooth to the touch, it felt like stone but it was not stone.” (Rand 32). After they discovered the subway they went they everyday and experimented with new stuff they got from the community and started learning about the unmentionable times.

The kangaroo, which saw all of this happen, doesn’t believe her eyes and tells Horton there couldn’t possibly by someone living on something so small, she couldn’t hear them so they weren’t real. We later find out that the spec has a whole town (Whoville) and the mayor needs help from Horton to save them from the bigger world. The kangaroo tries to get rid of the spec but is unsuccessful because Horton in committed to all Who’s in the town. If you have not read it, I encourage you to because it is a fun journey. There are countless messages in this book, all starting with the famous quote, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.

Many towns have traditions that they are not willing to let go of, but none like the one in the story The Lottery. Unlike most traditions this one does not have a happy ending. If you draw the chosen ticket from the black box you are then pegged with rocks by your whole town including your family.The forsaken tradition that this town is not willing to let go is dangling on by a thread. Many signs are shown throughout the story that the tradition that they thought would last forever is not going to last so long. In the story The Lottery every year they do an annual lottery.

Soon enough every single one of Joshua’s followers hated Buckstar. But some of the townspeople opposed Joshua and said that his argument was “blasphemy” and “ridiculous”. In the end, Buckstar stated that their cups were "a blank canvas" that encourages "customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way." Joshua 's followers all unfollowed him and moved on, but the only one that didn 't move on was ol’ Joshua. He ran away and became a Hermit.

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