The Lottery Literary Analysis Essay

Literary Analysis For The Lottery

Tradition is sacred to many people. In “The Lottery,” one tradition that the villagers hold onto is the annual stoning of one person. It is believed to be necessary to ensure a bountiful harvest. This is obviously illogical, yet they glorify the past and this impacts the present. When reason is exchanged for superstition, people will do unreasonable things. “The Lottery” shows the reader, through use of idioms, hyperbole, setting, tone and foreshadowing, that tradition taken to extreme levels of dedication can be detrimental to society.

Notably, there is evidence that the villagers are superstitious, and that this drives their reason for continuing to participate in the lottery. The character known as ‘Old Man Warner’ uses an idiom when he tells a group of people that there “Used to be a saying about, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’”(Jackson, 4) This quote shows that the villagers believe that the harvest will not be plentiful if they do not stone someone to death in the summer. He also uses a hyperbole shortly after, when he says “First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.”(Jackson, 4) Here, he is exaggerating the possible outcome of ending the lottery in an attempt to scare the town.

In addition, the author uses setting to contrast the

bright and colorful midsummer day with the evil that the villagers are about to commit. In the very beginning of the story, Jackson depicts the environment as “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green...”(Jackson 1) This shows the disparity between what the villagers perceive to be happening and what they are actually doing--killing one of their own with no remorse.
Moreover, there is also evidence that the lottery is continued because it has always been practiced by the village. Old Man Warner says: “‘There’s always been a lottery…” (Jackson, 4) Near the beginning of the story another piece of evidence is shown: “Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued. had been all very well when the village was tiny...”(Jackson, 2) These quotes prove that the villagers’ reasons for participating in the lottery are illogical and based on the sunk cost fallacy. They believe that they need to have the lottery every year because it is a long held tradition. This leads to them killing off one of their own people by brutally hurling stones at them for no real reason. However, this is seen as normal by the villagers for a number of reasons.
As a final point, every person in the town is taught from a young age that the lottery is a fact of life.

The kids see it as perfectly normal and acceptable; necessary, even. One clear example of this is on page 2 of Jackson’s “The Lottery:” “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” The children were excited about this event, and even made a game out of collecting the stones that would be used to kill someone in their village. This quote also implies that the children participated in the actual throwing of the stones, thereby becoming

murderers.
In summary, it is apparent through the use of idioms, hyperbole, setting, tone and foreshadowing that “The Lottery” shows the reader that tradition taken to extreme levels of dedication can be detrimental to society. The villagers are staunchly against change, and they believe that if they discontinue the lottery, their harvest will fail. This reasoning is faulty and leads to the needless death of innocent people. However, they see it as a necessary part of their culture. One must take special care not to base what they believe on anything but what they know for sure. Otherwise, they could find themselves subject to the same kind of absurdities that are depicted in “The Lottery.”