Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Traditions are an important part of our culture and what makes us individuals. They are passed down from generation to generation through following what our parents and grandparents have done. This shows our respect for our ancestors. However, there are some traditions that have no logical need to be followed, but still are blindly followed. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the villagers follow the tradition of the lottery, even though they question why they still do it. To properly understand our traditions, we need to know the origin, what it symbolizes, and usefulness.

Finding out the beginning of something can be quite an interesting thing. It can explain why you do your traditions. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, old man Warner says “…lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. This implies that after performing their tradition of the lottery, the

In “The Lottery”, the similarities between the townsfolk and the Uraons can be easily identified. The Uraons sacrificed humans to give back to the earth that provided them food. The villagers are giving back what they are taking from the earth through the sacrifice. By performing this tradition every year, they believe it brings a bountiful harvest. It is considered very useful to them, but a few villagers questioned the usefulness of the lottery.

The lottery seems useful to the villagers, especially the older townsfolk, but it’s just randomly killing one of the villagers under the pretext of bringing about a bountiful harvest. No one person in the village should hold the life of everyone in his hands, but that is exactly what happens with the lottery drawing. The man in charge has the villager’s life in his hands, and they are okay with it. Killing someone without any reason at all not only hurts the village by having one less member, but it also shows the children that life is not valued like it should