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Meaning of history and its importance
Meaning of history and its importance
Meaning of history and its importance
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When Tradition Takes Over “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that brings to light the problems a society faces when blindly following traditions. Due to a tradition as old as the town itself, every year someone is forced to draw the “black spot.” This black spot means that person is stoned to death, regardless of family status or even age. Communities have a tendency to stick to traditions, regardless of how logical it may or may not be, how old it is, or even whether or not everyone understands why they continue it; and traditions should always have their importance reevaluated. The logic used to continue this tradition is due to the tradition itself. “Old Man Warner” as he is called in the story, is the oldest man of the …show more content…
Within the lottery, the men are forced to gather first, and draw, as heads of the households. This is because of the patriarchal system which is evident in the community and carved into the lottery. While the host is accounting for all the people who are present at the lottery, they ask about one particular citizen, Mr. Dunbar, who broke his leg and is not able to show up and draw for his family in the lottery. When Mrs. Dunbar says that she will draw for the family, it is the job of the official to make sure that she doesn’t have a son to draw for her. They would rather see a man draw for his family because traditionally, the men needed the appearance of holding the power in the family. The women did the housework and childcare because they still believed that men needed to be the ‘breadwinners’ and must be accountable for the whole family, which is evidenced by the tradition of drawing for the family. This is merely another example of a tradition being held without it’s value and relevance being tested for the …show more content…
This happens even when it is outdated and when there can be no one found who still understands the reasons behind keeping the tradition. When traditions reach this point, it is usually time to step back and reevaluate how useful they are to the community as a whole. This is usually out of fear of losing the community (or fearing losing civility) even though, losing a tradition may help the community grow as a whole. If there can be found no reason behind keeping the tradition, such as the lottery not actually helping the harvest, then it is time for the tradition to be lost, much like the meaning has
Tradition is a central theme in Shirley Jackon's short story The Lottery. Images such as the black box and characters such as Old Man Warner, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Hutchinson display to the reader not only the tenacity with which the townspeople cling to the tradition of the lottery, but also the wavering support of it by others. In just a few pages, Jackson manages to examine the sometimes long forgotten purpose of rituals, as well as the inevitable questioning of the necessity for such customs.
...given up the lottery fools and suggests that the rain may stop coming for them. In “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the mother feels that "she felt she must cover up some fault," and even though there's never any particular person forcing her to try and prove her worth by having more, she feels that nebulous need. She wants the "discreet servants" and to be seen as part of the upper class, and her son, understanding his mother's needs, chooses to sacrifice his life.
In The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, the people of the village are consumed by a tradition. Every year in the month of June, they conduct a lottery to determine who will be stoned. The unjustified killing of a human being is widely viewed as an iniquitous act. Although surrounding communities have ceased the tradition of the lottery, this society continues the tradition. The idea of not practicing the tradition has been brought up numerous times within the community but “the subject was allowed to fade off ” (351). The community was conscience of the tradition being unethical but because it was a part of their heritage and believed to determine the success of their harvest, no one would do anything about the lottery. Once she is picked from the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson notices that the people are not conducting the lottery fairly and decides to stand up against the tradition. It can be inferred that women were not considered equal to the males of the village. Tessie—a woman— had the courage to stand against the tradition. Tessie understood that not all traditions are good. A tradition can be so engraved into an individual that they forget its purpose. In the story...
Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.
Tradition is huge in small towns and families and allows for unity through shared values, stories, and goals from one generation to the next. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” carries that theme of tradition. The story follows a small town that performs the tradition of holding an annual lottery in which the winner gets stoned to death. It (tradition) is valued amongst human societies around the world, but the refusal of the villagers in “The Lottery” to let go of a terrifying long-lasting tradition suggests the negative consequences of blindly following these traditions such as violence and hypocrisy.
Shirley Jackson’s “Lottery” satirically creates a society that puts the importance of tradition above even the life of the members of the community, as indicated by Old Man Warner’s response to Mr. Adams stating, “‘[O]ver in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.’ Old Man Warner snorted. ‘Pack of crazy fools … Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them … There’s always been a lottery,’ he added petulantly” (413). Here Old Man Warner defends the tradition of their society, though notably without justifying the tradition. Rather, he focuses on the people of other villages and the tradition as self-evident, both logical fallacies. The first argument he makes in favor of continuing to have a lottery is an ad
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.
There are regions in parts of the globe that take part in normal activities that, here in the United States, would be considered completely abnormal, even inhumane. Yet, traditional ties sewn into a cultural realm deems certain events, such as “the lottery”, to be well within the bounds of socially acceptable. Old Man Warner epitomizes the relevance of the power of tradition in this short story, and the symbol that takes shape from it. A veteran of seventy-seven years in the lottery, he snorts at the idea of giving it up. “Nothing but trouble in that… Pack of young fools,” he says when it is mentioned that some towns have given it up. “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore…” he spouts off, illogically. The lottery was so steeped in the town’s traditional makeup that even the barbaric physical act of killing someone with stones was not the least bit
Americans day after day live much of their lives following time-honored traditions that are passed down from one generation to another. From simple everyday cooking and raising children, to holidays and other family rituals, tradition plays a significant role on how they go by there everyday lives. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the citizens of a small farming town follow one such tradition. A point is made regarding human nature in relation to tradition. The story begins on a beautiful summer afternoon. 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. The story conveys a message that traditions may be valued so highly that those in their practice may do everything they can to ensure that they continue in accordance. From this a question arises. How far would one go to ensure their sacred traditions remain unscathed?
In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.
The man draws for the entire family, and even when the husband is not able to draw, the oldest boy over the age of sixteen draws for the entire family. One family, the Watsons, runs into this problem and the young boy of the family is left to pull the paper. Jackson makes a point that women having a part in this ceremony is a last resort and Mr. Summers supports this statement when a widow, Mrs. Watson, is forced to have her son draw the paper by saying, “‘Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it”’(Jackson 3), indicating that as a woman, she would have been incapable of determining the future of her own family. Mrs. Watson is clearly seen as a subordinate in her society, even to her own son.
Immediately, the women of “The Lottery” seem to be a friendly group who stick by one another’s sides. However, as the plot uncovers, the reader discovers that each woman would easily choose tradition over friendship. The traits of the women include endorsement of the “dominant culture” (Hattenhauer, 45), value of tradition, and belief in fairness. As the lottery transpires, the women advise Tess to “be a good sport” (Jackson, 140) because they all “took the same chance” (Jackson, 140). This simple encounter provides evidence that the women of “The Lottery” would undoubtedly lose a friendship to preserve the morals of tradition. When Tess finally reveals the paper with the mark on it, Mr. Summers is quick to begin the final step in the Lottery. The women oblige, and are even quicker to grab a stone from the children’s pile. One woman even orders another to “hurry up” (Jackson, 141) before picking up a “stone so large” (Jackson, 141) it required the use of both hands. “The Lottery” ends with the town’s people stoning Tess to death. Among the killers are the women that Tess once called friends.
In the short story “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson the reader is taken aback and quickly shown how in humanity tradition can be blindly followed and is also shown the extent that tradition can be taken to. In this case, the story is heavily involved with human nature and how evil is apparent through that. Jackson specifically showcases the tendencies humans have in their nature to follow through with certain things whilst lacking reasonable thought. The village people in the story do not let go of tradition, because of this they practically allow their families to be subjected to a tradition that dictates who will live or die. The intolerance of change and true understanding of the lottery shown throughout, and the townspeople’s emotionless killing shows a blind acceptance of tradition.
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a shocking story where a small town holds a lottery to determine who will be the chosen one for their yearly human sacrifice. In the end, the person who gets picked by the lottery is stoned to death by the village. Jackson uses little setting, symbolism, and P.O.V to paint an oddly disturbing theme: refusing to change a towns tradition and religious way of thinking can be lethal.
I have recently read one of the featured fictional stories named “The Lottery” which has left me with mixed emotions. As I read this short story it had dawned on me that the message was about the power of tradition and how people do not like to change it This first hit me when i read that, “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,”. This shows that the villagers are very adamant on how the lottery should be run each and every year.