Examples Of Tradition In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Tradition and Family in “ The Lottery”

By manipulating the themes of tradition and family, Shirley Jackson creates a false sense of security and trust. Tradition, a custom, value or belief that is passed on from one generation to generation, lives and thrives in every community. The aspect of tradition brings many people hope, and positivity. Tradition creates unity between people, and evokes the feelings of security. In “The Lottery”, the community believes strongly in and has a high regard for tradition. Shirley Jackson manipulates the reader by using tradition as a major theme to show a sense of security. Ironically, in “The Lottery” rather than tradition being a positive aspect of society, it becomes dangerous and creates instability.

This manipulates the reader to believe that the great rituals and the event that people are gathered for, is hopeful. It would be one that they would want to attend as well. Once prominent, the rituals dilute over time. The happy songs and the dances die. The “ritual salute, which the official of the lottery [has] to use in addressing each person who [comes] up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time” (Jackson 211). Traditions change`based on the circumstances of the time period, as newer generations evolve. The lottery tradition continues to change, but the new generations, the new eras, don’t seem to comprehend the reality of the lottery. Following blindly the tradition of the lottery, allowing it to adapt, “the villagers [forget] the ritual and [lose] the original black box, they still [remember] to use stones”(214). Tradition, as Jackson infers to the reader is a danger in society. The black box, acting as a symbol for the origin that is so unknown to the generation today, shows how much the members of the community do not examine why they are actively murdering a member of their pact. They do not forget the stones; they do not forget the active event