Examine Traditions In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” tells a story of a tradition passed on from one generation to the next that has allowed ritual murder to become a part of the town’s history. “The Lottery” shows that these traditions have the ability to destroy a society. “The Lottery” exhibits the dangers of blindly following unexamined traditions. The perils of blindly following unexamined rituals are demonstrated when the people gather in the square while the children gather stones, when Bill Hutchinson willingly gives up his wife without a second thought, and when Tessie Hutchinson is stoned. The first example of the danger of blindly following unexamined traditions is the mob mentality shown by the people who gather in the square while the children collect

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