Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson’s story The Lottery is about a function held in a village during 1948 that depicts the appearance tradition holds in society, and how following it may lead individuals to undertake in an immoral practice. In this village, tradition is constantly becoming increasingly insignificant; however, the impacts of the ceremony remain the same. The Lottery begins in a very cheerful tone though as the story develops Jackson uses irony to display the contrast from the tone at the beginning compared to the tone at the end.
The tradition of the ceremony is that annually a representative from each family of the village must draw a slip of paper from a worn out black box. Once it is indicated which
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man has the black dot on their page, every other family may toss away their papers. The family members of the chosen representative must then redraw, and the family member with the black dot will proceed to be stoned to death by all their neighbours who live in the village. The title of the ceremony, ‘The Lottery’ is ironic considering it suggests that the villagers are drawing for a prize when in reality they draw for their own demise. As the host of the service, Mr. Summers begins to explain the rules, Jackson then writes; “The people had done it so many times that they had only half listened to the directions; most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around (Jackson 3).” This sense of the villager's discomfort during the ceremony is the first notable point of the story that foreshadows a negative climax, in contrary to the uplifting introduction it started with.
Furthermore, the villager's physical actions of walking awkwardly to receive their ticket (Jackson 4) or waiting uncomfortably for their names to be called insinuates the unspoken desire for change in regards to this horrid annual …show more content…
tradition. Old Man Warner, who has participated in the lottery for 77 years straight, is one of the few that still see the lottery as mandatory social conformity.
When Mr. Adam’s states that surrounding villages have begun to stop holding the traditional ceremony, (Jackson, 4) he is implying that it could be an ideal future for their own village. Old Man Warner ‘snorts’ at him back with an absolute opposing belief; “Listening to young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know they’ll be wanting us to go back to living in caves ...There's always been a lottery (Jackson, 4). ” The irony portrayed from this quote is that Old Man Warner refers to the days before the lottery as ‘living in caves’ implying that it would be barbaric; meanwhile, the lottery ritual is as savage as any ritual rehearsed by cave dwellers (Cummings). Thus, Warner is considered an obstructionist: anyone who warns others not to change. His character symbolizes unbroken tradition in a society that continues to leave certain aspects of the tradition behind, as he remains confident in the inhumane concept of the
lottery. The original paraphernalia of the lottery had been lost long ago (Jackson 1), the idea of making a new box was an idea that nobody agreed with. It was created by the first settlers of their village; however, just because they do not want to diminish the attributes of the history from the lottery of their town, they continue to remove traditions from the original concept. When the ritual was developed, it consisted of a recital song upon the swearing-in of Mr. Summers, performed by the official of the lottery, as well as an official salute that he had to use when addressing each person that came to draw from the box (Jackson 2). With so much of the ritual forgotten or discarded, the villagers have altered their original traditions. It seems as though the villagers still cling to the importance of tradition, in reality, given these points, they only want the result of their ceremony: the evil action of stoning one to death. From attempting to persuade Old Man Warner to give up on the lottery, to the lack of authenticity in how it is run; the villagers are annually traumatized by the stonings of their neighbours. Even in the events that tradition has diminished in physical and presentable aspects, the villagers effortlessly continue it.
The black box represents virtually the only part of the original ritual that has been preserved since the lottery began. It is there not only to hold the papers that will be drawn, but also to represent to the townsfolk the tradition. The black box is constructed of pieces of the original box, a link to the time when the purpose of the lottery was clear. Most of the old custom has been forgotten: wood chips have been replaced with paper slips, and on one can remember the recital and ritual salute that had previously been part of the lottery; but the o...
Shirley Jackson wrote many books in her life, but she was well known by people for her story “The Lottery” (Hicks). “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948, in the New Yorker magazine (Schilb). The story sets in the morning of June 27th in a small town. The townspeople gather in the square to conduct their annual tradition, the Lottery. The winner of the lottery will stoned to death by the society. Although there is no main character in the story, the story develops within other important elements. There are some important elements of the story that develop the theme of the story: narrator and its point of view, symbolism, and main conflict. The story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, argues practicing a tradition without understanding the meaning of the practice is meaningless and dangerous.
By further description of the author, the items involved in the ritual and the villagers’ specific reactions to changing them further downplay the conventional nature of the lottery. Even though the “original paraphernalia for the lottery has been lost long ago” (Jackson 134), the townspeople still use the worn down, old black box for drawing out the slips of paper. The box is older than the oldest man in town, Old Man Warner, but no one dares to discuss the replacement of the black box. Conjuring up a brand new box is discouraged as “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 134). Brief lighting is shown on what the box represents which is motivated by the suggestion that the current box contains pieces of the original box used by the founders of the village. The black box is almost a symbol of tradition in a way that “it is based on a story, is passed down from generation to generation, changes very slowly over time, but nevertheless is believed to serve an important function within the community” (Michelson).
“The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. 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, 1).
In the plot, Jackson foreshadows the horror which is due to come. The children are taught from a young age about the process which takes place for the death of a person, they prepare for this event by collecting “a great pile of stones” which is used later on in the persecution of Mrs. Hutchinson (1 Jackson). This illustrates that children have been indoctrinated to think that the death of a human is unimportant, and considered normal. They look at this event as a game instead of a serious
The Lottery is an amazing work of fiction not only because of its extraordinary twist on the concept of tradition, but for its classic irony and impeccable use of symbolism. The Lottery questions whether or not tradition should be respected for what it is or evolve to suit new generations. When asked the purpose of writing The Lottery, Shirley Jackson responded that the story was "to shock the story's readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives." (237) Jackson was a true visionary as a female author who created a thought provoking and alarming story to readers in a time when tradition was still heavily weighted in society.
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.
The story “The Lottery” is set in a residential area in the United States of America where a summer convention is being visualized. In her story Lottery, Old Man Warner demands and discusses the characteristics of resigning the custom to the present era, which he describes as a pack of youthful fools. He additionally uncovers that the lottery is,
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
They villagers were so kind to each other in the beginning, “they stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.” They seem like normal villagers, however, the minute that Tessie gets “marked” they turn become strangers to her and stone her, "come on, come on, everyone" (Jackson). Jackson portrays the unapologetic image of humanity for what it really is. The truth of the matter is that we could all see ourselves in the villagers. All of us have faced situations at one point where we choose to be quiet and hold on onto to tradition in the presence of injustice because we favor our protection over others without hesitation. If it comes down to the big picture, the humanity of the village is the humanity of our society today. As humans, we are naturally selfish, looking out for ourselves without a care for others. Jackson seems to want the cruelness of humanity to change into one of love and caring. We humans are the only ones of our kind in the whole universe, we should stick together rather than fight each
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson 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 in how they go about their 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.
Everyone has their own way of solving problems; however, ritual is a form that people doing one thing in the same way. It defines as “the prescribed form of conducting a formal secular ceremony.” However if the meaning of ritual is mistaken, the consequence could be unpredictable." The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson gives us a lecture about a tortuous ritual. The story takes place in a small village with 300 citizens, they gather for a yearly lottery which everyone should participate. The story leads to a horrific ending by people forgetting the concept of ritual.
In every village it is always difficult to try and change they ways of the people. What one village sees as wrong, another may see as right. Some of the villagers may be stubborn enough to not change traditions that physically affect a person. Mr. Joe Summers is a man who ran the coal business for the village. He was a man who had time for civic activities, but no one really liked him. The reason as to why no one liked him was because “[H]e had no children, and his wife was a scold” (Jackson ). Mr. Summers had the privilege of carrying the revered wooden black box. Along side of Mr. Summers stood another man by the name of Mr. Harry Graves. Mr. Graves was the man who helped, Mr. Summers, make the slips of paper that would be used in the lottery, and he took the three-legged stool to the site of the lottery; which is where the black box was supposed to rest on. “Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done” (Jackson ). The box was never changed because no one wa...
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is a short story about an annual lottery draw in a small town. The story takes place in a small town in New England. Every year a lottery is held, in which one person is to be randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. The lottery has been practiced for over seventy years by the townspeople. By using symbolism, Jackson uses names, objects, and the setting to conceal the true meaning and intention of the lottery.
An ironic ending is also foretold by the town’s setting being described as one of normalcy. The town square is described as being “between the post office and the bank;” every normal town has these buildings, which are essential for day-to-day functioning. The townspeople also establish a normal, comfortable setting for the story. The children are doing what all typical kids do, playing boisterously and gathering rocks. The woman of the town are doing what all stereotypical females do, “exchang[ing] bits of gossip.” The men are being average males by chatting about boring day-to-day tasks like “planting and rain, tractors and taxes.”