The Lottery Shirley Jackson Tradition Analysis

Human beings have been known to become strung up on following tradition. In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the villagers demonstrate this fact. While following traditions has its benefits, doing what is customary can be hazardous.
The Lottery begins as a day full of excitement-children run around, men have stopped work, and wives have left their housework to gossip in the town square. But while there is eagerness, tension hangs in the air, ever so slightly. Family names are called, and the head of the household draws a slip of paper out of a worn and splintering black box, After the drawing, the family with a black mark on their paper is forced to come up to the stage and draw again, The Hutchinsons receive the marked

slip, and Mrs. Hutchinson draws another marked slip. The villagers gather around her and stone her, not listening to her protests or accusations about the unfairness of the lottery.
The villagers are strongly rooted in tradition, and even if some rituals surrounding the lottery have been forgotten or discarded. As Old Man Warner says about the north village giving up the lottery, "Pack of crazy fools . . . Next thing you'll know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore live hat away for a while . . . There's always been a lottery" (Jackson 5). The villagers consider the idea of giving up the lottery unthinkable, and refuse to change their ways.
While following the yearly tradition of the lottery is deadly, the villagers seem to be ignorant about the fate of the winner. Once the marked slip is drawn, the townspeople turn on the recipient, pushing aside any ties they share with the victim. When Tessie Hutchinson was revealed to have the marked slip, the villagers began to stone her, despite her innocence. Even her youngest son, Little Davey, was given several pebbles to throw at his mother. Though it may be tradition, doing what is customary may not always be right.
Through reading "The Lottery," the lesson taught is falling into the trap of certain traditions can be deadly. Though humans are imperfect and hard-set in their ways, humans must examine their customs and beliefs to tell if they are truly noble.