Essay On Outdated Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

In “The Lottery”, an outdated tradition puts one person at eminent irrefutable death per year. What are some outdated traditions that exist today? Do any of them relate to the extremity of this tradition? “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is based on outdated traditions. The biggest idea of this story is that one person is sacrificed per year because it is the tradition. In the black box, there are blank slips of paper but only one has a black dot. Tessie Hutchinson chose the slip of paper that had this dot which meant that the rest of the town stoned her to death, for it was part of their tradition. This story includes biblical references such as comparison to the specific story of "The Adulterous Woman", connections to the Bible in Mrs. Delacroix's

name and in Steve Adam's name. These points enhance the plot by making the story more captivating and applicable to life.
To begin with, “The Lottery” and a biblical story “The Adulterous Woman” share common ideas. Tessie Hutchinson had rocks hurled at her because the rest of her family pulled out blank slips of paper, bringing her to her certain death. “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it….” (Jackson 7). Because she was the one that was chosen at random, she was stoned to death as part of the tradition. Similarly, “The Adulterous Woman” was put at risk of being stoned at for she was caught in adultery. Jesus said to the woman, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (The Adulterous Woman, John 8:1-11). Jesus told the Pharisees that if they were not sinners, they could throw a stone at her, therefore, she was forgiven and told to sin no more by Jesus. Both of these stories show the punishment method of stoning which can lead to the extremity of death. Continuously, the willingness of people to be brutal is exemplary in both texts. In “The Lottery”, Tessie was willing to put up her own children to take her death chair. Don and Eva are told to “take their chance!” by their mother (Jackson 5). Tessie knew that daughters drew with their husbands, yet proceeded to try to put Eva at stake. Likewise, the scribes and Pharisees in “The Adulterous Woman” were willing to stone the woman for she had gone against the 10 Commandments. “Now the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what do you say?” (John 8:1-11). If they were not to ask Jesus, most likely would they stone the woman. They went so far as to “test” Jesus, putting words in Moses’ mouth. These stories reveal people’s potential to be brutal and how far they would reach to put others at risk. Ultimately, “The Lottery” and “The Adulterous Woman” both convey lessons that could be learned. For one, the first story could show the negative effects of being selfish and not humble, as well as to show the dangers of outdated traditions. Mr. Summers tells Tessie the common knowledge that daughters draw with their husbands family. She responds with, “It wasn’t fair” (Jackson 5). She was selfish in giving the excuse that it was not fair, even when she knew everyone had an equal chance. To add on, the dangers of outdated traditions for this story is that sacrificing a single person holds no meaning. The argument of “there’s always been a lottery” that Old Man Warner gives is not valid (4). Because there is no other meaning to hold onto other than that it has always been tradition, it is outdated and is considered dangerous. Comparably, the second story shows the effects of being hypocritical and selfish. When they told Jesus the supposed words of Moses, “they were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him” (John 8:1-11). They themselves were sinners but were still willing to put the woman at the stake of being stoned at. Both “The Lottery” and “The Adulterous Woman” portray lessons that the reader could learn from, not making the same mistake at the characters.
Continuously, specific characters from “The Lottery” hold biblical meaning.

The story includes the Delacroix family, Delacroix being Latin for “cross”. In the end, Mrs. Delacroix indisputably crosses Tessie by throwing the largest stone at her. “... selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Hurry up.’” (Jackson 7). For one, Jesus carried the cross. Additionally, he had also been crossed due to the betrayal against him from his own friends. The Bible includes a story of how Judas was unfaithful to Jesus. A crowd of people carrying cubs and swords stood behind Judas. “Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: 'The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.' Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, 'Greetings, Rabbi!' and kissed him. Jesus replied, 'Friend, do what you came for.' Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him” (Matthew 26:47-50). Jesus trusted Judas but because Judas disagreed with Jesus’ intentions that veered away from becoming a strong political leader, he led Jesus to his arrest (Graham paragraph 2). Both texts provide evidence of “crossing”, either used literally and figuratively. Next, Steve Adams’ last name has relation to the Bible. Adams was the first man to reach into the black box. Mr. Summers called his name, they exchanged greetings, grinning at one another “humorlessly and nervously”. “He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in

the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand” (Jackson 3). He broke the ice for the rest of the town and was rightfully nervous. Likewise, this relates to Adam and Eve of the Bible. Adam was the first man while Eve was the first woman. As Steve Adams in “The Lottery” and Adam in the Bible both share a name, they both are the first people to embark something. Finally, this story includes Mr. Graves family. Mr. Grave helps carry in the black box along with the stool. Along with Mr. Summers, “the postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it” (Jackson 1). This is an indication that Mr. Graves is leading one townsperson to their grave, the black box. This is relatable to the Bible in the chapter of Isaiah. “Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,’” (Isaiah 28:15). This verse states that they brought death upon them, but it will pass them by, just like from the beginning of “The Lottery”: from when Mr. Graves ironically brought in the black box to the death of Tessie.
All things considered, these biblical references enhance the plot of this story.

For one, realizing these connections and references can change the reader’s interpretation of the story. “The Adulterous Woman”, the Delacroix’s, Mr. Adams’ and Graves’ names all make the story becomes more ironic. To illustrate, Mr. Graves bringing in the black box is ironic because he is bringing someone to their grave, to put it one way (Jackson 1). If the reader realizes this, as well as the other connections, their interpretation could become clearer and the story becomes more captivating. Continuously, the biblical references create a non-superficial meaning for the story. It would be a common tendency to overlook the names of the characters, but going more in-depth into them would make the story more interesting to read. Connections to Bible stories would also make the story more understandable, like the relation to “The Adulterous Woman”. Lastly, the biblical links to “The Lottery” can open a door for ethical questions. Because the Bible would generally preach about doing things of good-nature like, for example, loving your neighbor as He has loved us, these connections show what would not be ideal to do. To illustrate, the connection of the rock throwing from both “The Lottery” and “The Adulterous Woman” can lead to whether or not the reasons behind both stories’ stoning/potential stoning is

valid.
On the whole, biblical references in “The Lottery” include connections to “The Adulterous Woman” and verses in the Bible that connect with Mr. Delacroix’s Adams’, and Graves’ names. These relations make the story more captivating and interesting to read. The lessons and irony behind these links also can leave the reader with something to think about. Our world today is not much different to how the Pharisees and scribes were so willing to stone the woman, being hypocritical as they thought they had the right to when they too were sinners. After all, because of Adam and Eve, mankind has had a proclivity towards sin and doing against God’s will.