Many families have traditions that they follow annually, things like setting up their Christmas tree a couple days after Thanksgiving or having Forth of July parties. To this village, the lottery is a sacred tradition, something that the village had been built upon by the very first people to settle there. Many of the older villagers are very persistent on keeping the tradition going, while the younger villagers continue to follow them because they are afraid to speak against it. Based on the choices of villagers like Harry Graves and Bill Hutchinson, it seems clear that everyone continues to participate in the lottery year after year because it is a sacred tradition of their land and no one has dared to against it because of fear of change …show more content…
He is described as a traitor who is feeling peer pressure from the other villagers. Bill is heavily influenced by the lottery and other villagers, which is revealed when they do a redraw and his wife gets picked and he joins the other villagers in stoning her to death. The reason Bill may feel compelled to participate in the annual lottery is because it's a sacred tradition that the town has followed since the first settlers. The reaction to this is that nobody can break this tradition because it is sacred and holds meaning to their people. Perhaps one of the other reasons Bill chooses to participate is because he is afraid of what will happen if he protests against the lottery. The character Harry Graves, is one who has a sinister influence and is the bringer of death. Graves is a darker counterpart of Summers as he also helps Joe Summers prepare the slips of paper that will send one of the residents to his or her death. Graves is also the Postmaster, he delivers the news of the town, as well as who wins the lottery and who will get stoned to …show more content…
The head of the Household is supposed to protect their family, but instead he just let his wife die because he was too afraid of something happening to him. "Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it." Bill Hutchinson made no attempt to help his wife after she stood up for him and the lottery being unfair, instead he joined the rest of the villagers in murdering his wife. This shows that Bill was too afraid of what might happen to him if he were to speak out against the lottery. In conclusion, this story sheds light on an evil and gory tradition that many citizens continue to participate in. The lottery was started by it's first settlers and every year someone gets killed as a sacrifice. Villagers like Bill Hutchinson and Harry Graves show this by the choices they make throughout the story. Bill Hutchinson is afraid to speak against the lottery after his wife did because he is worried about what might happen to him. Harry Graves continues to participate because of tradition and fear of upsetting the elders. This story about such a horrible tradition, even though it is fictional, speaks to the audience about how not all traditions should be
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
Traditions are usually passed on from parent to child at an early age. In the opening lines of "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson reveals the tradition of the lottery and how all of the villagers conform to the ritual of a human sacrifice. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock…” (Jackson 373) shows how the citizens of the village are used to the tradition of always gathering for the lottery. The children in “The Lottery” were stuffing their pockets with stones before all of the parents had arrived, " Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones" (373). This illustrates that the children were taught what to do in the event of the lottery and by being prepared it shows t...
In “The Lottery,” the town put so much importance on tradition. As the townspeople were getting ready, Mr. Summers said, “Guess we better get started, get this over with…” (Jackson 2). Even though the town is getting ready to do the lottery, the people do not like to do it. This is very odd because if people do not like to do something, people tend to stop doing the activity.
The town's citizens are eager, gathering in the town square in order to take part in the yearly lottery. With the story focused around one particular family, the Hutchinsons, who are so anxious to get it all over with until they find that one of their members is to participate in the lottery's closing festivities, Tessie. Of course, unlike your typical lotteries, this is not one that you would want to win. The one chosen from the lottery is to undertake a cruel and unusual death by stoning at the hands of their fellow townsmen for the sake that it may bring a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Ironically, many of the towns people have suggested that the lottery be put to an end, but most find the idea unheard of being that they have lived in it's practice for most of their lives.
Mrs. Hutchinson runs into the event late, laughing that she had “[c]lean forgot what day it was” (Jackson 292). After that, Mr. Summers, the officiator of the lottery, calls out names of the people who are unable to attend the lottery, and asks for the person who will be drawing for them. There were two people missing, Clyde Dunbar who had broken his leg, and the Watson’s mother. Dunbar’s wife was drawing for him, and it seemed that she was unhappy that she was the one handed this task. Similarly, a boy from the Watson family was nervously drawing for his mother and himself. This is where the tension and the suspense of the story begin to build, as the reader can tell that the characters are growing increasingly worried as more names are called. Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner discuss the north village, a town contemplating abandoning the lottery. Old Man Warner calls them “crazy” (Jackson 294), and that “there’s always been a lottery” (Jackson 294). This is another example of the rigidness of the townspeople when it comes to their old traditions, as well as beginning to show that the lottery isn’t exactly a positive event, as many towns are dropping it. Next, the Hutchinson family is called, meaning that either Mr. or Mrs. Hutchinson or one of their three children will be the winner of the lottery. Mrs. Hutchinson immediately protests, adding to the mystery of the lottery. Considering that most people would be thrilled to be the winner of the lottery, this scene is another indication that the lottery is anything but good. One by one, the Hutchinsons revealed their slips of papers that they drew to determine the winner, and each person that holds a blank shows great relief. The climax of the story arrives as Tessie Hutchinson is revealed to be the winner of the lottery. This simultaneously relieves some of the suspense
The lottery is a ritual that has been around for years and years and it has developed into a way of life for the people of the town. When June comes rolling along everyone is anticipating the lottery. Kids fill their pockets full of rocks and plans are discussed about making a new box. They can not wait to attend and finally get it over with. This drawing seems to transform the people. Tension builds before the lottery occurs, but the townspeople are still able to joke with one another. Tension increases in the story when the author, Shirley Jackson, implies to the reader that Mr. Hutchinson has drawn the marked paper. We assume he does because he walks up on to the stage with his family and they are then made to draw again from the worn out black box. Mr. Hutchinson reaches his hand in and grabs out a piece with his children and his wife following in succession. The one that holds the winning ticket is Mrs. Hutchinson.
Toward the finale of the short story, Shirley Jackson, the author of “The Lottery” declares, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the black box, they still remembered to use stones” (873). Many of the residents display no knowledge of the lottery and only participate because of tradition. In fact, only Old Man Warner recollects the authentic purpose of the lottery. He furnishes some insight behind the tradition of the lottery by declaring, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 871). Old Man Warner reveals the original reason for holding the lottery, but Jackson clearly demonstrates that the original purpose no longer exists. The villagers comprehend the procedure of stoning the victim but nothing else. Nick Crawford articulates in an easy about “The Lottery,” “The most disturbing thing about Tessie Hutchinson’s unexpected demise is its...
On the morning of June 27 of a recent year, the 300 villagers of an American village prepare for the annual lottery in a mood of excitement. The horrible tradition of the lottery is so old that some of its ritual has been forgotten and some has been changed. Its basic purpose is entirely unremembered, but residents are present to take part in it. The children in the village created a “great pile of stones” in one corner of the stoning square. The civic-minded Mr. Summers has been sworn in and then he hands a piece of paper to the head of each family. When it is discovered the Hutchinson family has drawn the marked slip, each member of the family Bill, Tessie, and the children is given another slip. Silence prevails as suspense hovers over the proceedings. After helplessly protesting the unfairness of the first drawing, Tessie finds that she holds the marked slip.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
Every year, the lottery is held, and every year a person is killed. Each villager neglects to acknowledge the unjustness of the lottery and continue to participate because of the tradition it represents in their society. The lottery was a cultural tradition passed down from the very first settlers of the village. It makes up a huge part of the village’s history and culture. The villagers pay recognition to their culture by continuing the tradition of the lottery even though the lottery is not morally right. On page 93 it states, “There was a proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year… There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came to draw from the box…” This quote shows the tribal-like rituals and traditions associated with the lottery. Through the years, some of the rituals of the lottery were lost, but the main elements of the lottery remained the same. The idea behind the lottery was that the ancestors, of the villagers, believed that human sacrifice would bring in good harvest. This led to the development and continuation
The point of view of tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is the normal once of year gathering on the townspeople. This gathering is held in order to pick, via a lottery drawing, to decide who in the town is going to be stoned to death. “The people of the village began to gather in the square, between the post office and the bank, around ten o’clock; in some towns there were so many people the lottery took two days and had started on June 26th, but in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, and the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.” (Kennedy & Gioia, 2013, pp. 251). The fact that the people gather and discuss everyday issue prior to the start of the lottery all point to the blind tradition of selecting some to be stoned to death.
The plot as a whole in “The Lottery” is filled with ironic twists. The whole idea of a lottery is to win something, and the reader is led to believe that the winner will receive some prize, when in actuality they will be stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. The villagers act very nonchalant upon arriving at the lottery; which makes it seem as if it is just another uneventful day in a small town. Considering the seriousness of the consequences of the lottery, the villagers do not make a big deal about it. Under the same note it is ironic that many of the original traditions of the lottery, such as the recital and the salute, had long been forgotten. All that the villagers seemed to remember was the ruthless killing of a random person. It also seems strange that they let the equipment for the lottery, the black box, get into such a poor condition.
“Although everyone appears to agree that the annual lottery is important no one seems to know when it began or what its original purpose was” (Introduction) This is made clear when in the story it says that the reason the tradition had started was lost years ago. It is also made clear when the box is being describe as an old rugged looking thing and “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson). In the story it also says that so much of the original tradition has been lost or discarded that Mr. Summers who symbolizes a leader who has frighten amounts of power, was able to slip in chips of wood instead of paper into the box (Jackson). Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery it is even up to him to but the black dot on the paper that decides who will be stoned. The power that Mr. Summer has serves as a symbol of humans blindly following tradition because no one ever challenged Mr. Summers whether it be to figure out or stop the lottery or even to challenge why he is the one in power. Instead the town’s people feel sorry for him because he has a nagging wife and no children. Jackson never explains why Mr. Summers has all this power. Mr. Summers is a bit ironic to because of his last name summers. When someone thinks of summer they think
"The Lottery" utilizes an objective third-person perspective to create suspense and foreshadow the ending. It begins by introducing a village and its people on a "clear and sunny" morning, "with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day" (NA, 781), with people finishing their tasks in order to gather for an annual town lottery. The narrator describes the community in a manner similar to that of an observant visitor. When the children leave school for the summer, with the boys gathering stones and the girls talking aside them, the reader is comforted by the light-hearted atmosphere of the village. It seems like a normal, idyllic town with simple people that seem stereotypic of a small rural community, where the men are absorbed in talking about "planting and rain, tractors and taxes"(NA, 781) and the women gather to exchange "bits of gossip" (NA, 782). In the beginning, the reader discovers that as opposed to larger towns that also hold the lottery, this village could finish the event in late morning and "still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner" (NA, 781). Mr. Summer, who carries out the drawing and who is described as a "round-faced, jovial man" (NA, 782), adds to the sense of normality in the town and upcoming lottery.
Would you believe that there was once a village where everyone would partake in a terrible event, but think it was innocent because of how they blindly followed a tradition? The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson communicates this theme by showing how the villagers participate in a lottery every year. In life, there are people who follow tradition because they have to, or they are used to following without question. The author, Shirley Jackson, was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California. In 1937, Shirley Jackson attended Syracuse University where she began to write short stories.