'Rituals In The Lottery'

“Rituals are important to us as a society. It ties us to our traditions and our history” Miller Williams. In some ways tradition can be viewed as a disease amongst smaller communities, as they try to keep connections between past and current generations. In the short story “The Lottery” tradition and rituals have been proving to have deadly consequences if followed without any remorse. Although narrative’s storyline begins slowly the relationship between the story’s theme and its conflict only help strengthen each other and the overall storyline as the story develops.

The theme of almost any story boils down to the main idea of the narrative in addition to the message the author was trying to portray in his writing. In “The Lottery” the author portrays the story as being an

example of how following traditions without adding your own insight of the situation can lead to dangerous sometimes fatal results. Early in the narrative, the author explains that yearly the villagers gather together to participate in the lottery, with one unlucky and innocent bystander, gaining the prize at the end.

Prior to the audience knowing the type of lottery being held the day carries on as a rather normal day. Children run about town square playing and gathering stones and rocks ,while the adults are preparing for the lottery later that evening. But the main item that seems to occupy the villager’s thoughts is the little mysterious black box in which the ballot for everyone was dropped into. Midway through the narrative she writes that the villagers don’t know much about the lottery’s origin but try to still preserve the tradition. Magnifying the theme of how the strength of tradition and willingness to fit in with others can lead people blindly to fulfill dangerous and deadly rituals such as human sacrifice. Old Man Warner is so faithful to the tradition that he fears the villagers will return to primitive times if they stop holding the lottery.Being so wrapped up in the idea of the tradition ,they get carried away and forget what they are doing is murder. And they don’t have a reason for doing it other than the fact that they’ve always held a lottery to kill. If the villagers stopped to question it, they would be forced to ask themselves why they are

committing a murder—but no one stops to question why the tradition is still continuing on. Another competent of the tradition carrying on is the lottery's box, the same box has been in service for years , never being tampering or enhanced over the years. It was believed to be made from scraps of the original black box which fell apart through the course of its existence "Mr. Summers," the town's coal miner and lottery administrator, "spoke frequently about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box." (Jackson pg. 1) Aiding in helping the town continue in their tradition. They have grown with the tradition and find discomfort with the idea of change. "Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking about a new box, but every year the subject could fade off without anything's being done." (Jackson pg.1) With the keyword "allowed," it illustrates the people's reaction to ignorance. Every year the suggestion is made, and every year the suggestion is purposely disregarded for the sake that their tradition is unchanged. There is a sense that should the box be changed, so should the lottery and its purpose. "Some places already quit lotteries," Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner snorted "Pack of crazy fools." (Jackson pg.3) Showing that the oldest and often times wisest person in the village is against tampering with the box.
Conflict can be described as the tension or struggles of power between to forces. Throughout the narrative the protagonist, Tessie Hutchinson is faced with two conflicts. One is her own thoughts on how the lottery process is not right vs the tradition, she has carried out since the village's existence. And the other stems from Tessie versus the townspeople. Conflicting thought between Tessie’s thoughts about the set up for the lottery and the other the villager’s thoughts as a society of the tradition of the lottery. Tessie internal conflict would be, she doesn’t want to choose in the second drawing. Although she knows that the process has carried on in the village for years she still does not want to die because of it. The external conflict is person vs society as she does not want to be stoned to death, but the society feels as though they have to follow the tradition to its key.
The theme and conflict of the story correlate to each because their share
In Conclusion, “The Lottery”