Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

657 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical perspective of the lottery

What if once a year we all got together to throw rocks at someone and then return to everyday life like nothing happened and call it a tradition. It certainly sounds like a ridiculous tradition, but that's exactly what happens in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery."Tradition vary from person to person and culture to culture and while some might have more vigorous tradition most of them are laid back and practical. The People in the ¨The Lottery¨ have a tradition that they blindly follow, and while not all traditions seem right many of them can be detrimental to society. The three main characters all provide important details about how this tradition seems right to them.
Mr. Summer has ran the lottery and fully believes in this tradition and also organized the Lottery, square dancers, teenage club and halloween party. Mr. Summers has a god complex to him when it comes to the lottery, he ultimately indirectly decides who dies and who lives since he is the one that marks the black dot on the small white paper. He takes pride in this tradition by willing giving up time to the set up of the lottery, he …show more content…

He is pretty blunt on his thoughts on the lottery, to him change is Inferior and anybody who thinks that is “Pack of crazy fools” (Jackson 136). One of the main reason he backs the lottery so much because he is the eldest and has seen how it works and what comes out of it. He thinks that it helps the crops and says “Lottery in june, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 136) meaning that he has seen first hand how beneficial it is to the town as a whole. Mr. Warner also thinks that it helps keep the society stable his psychological thinking behind the lottery is if it has been around longer than him and it has been effective why change it if it works. Even though most people want to the lottery to keep going most don’t fully understand how it affects the person being

Show More
Related

  • Shirley Jackson's Symbolism in The Lottery

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery' clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery,' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.

    Read More

  • The Illusion of Tradition in Jackson's The Lottery

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today tradition is a strong part of out lives. We do not have any traditions that are as extreme as the lottery, however “The Lottery” symbolizes that relevance can be lost over time. Take the Bible for example, it has been written and rewritten several times over thousands of years, translated from one language to another and then to another. Even over the relatively short period of time in “The Lottery” many thing had been lost from there tradition. “At one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the ...

    Read More

  • Religious Tradition in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    While 'The Lottery' is a fictitious story it can be argued that it mirrors the attitude of American culture in how it addresses religious tradition in its major holidays and celebrations.

    Read More

  • Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson,was published in 1948. The story centers around a social gathering holding every resident in attendance. It is an annual tradition to have this gathering and all of the town’s people have to participate in a lottery in the belief that it will help bring a prosperous harvest. A slip of paper is made for everyone who lives in the town and one special slip is marked with a black spot. The one who draws the marked paper is proclaimed the winner of the lottery and receives the honor of getting stoned to death by the rest of the participants. The slips of papers are drawn from the same rustic black blox used year after year. The town is symbolic of the box in the way of how the box is handled, the color of the box is painted and of how the box was made.

    Read More

  • Tradition In Shirley Jackson's Lottery

    2110 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Lottery Shirley Jackson Tradition Analysis

    381 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Rituals In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Death by stones just does not seem so bad anymore. In the story The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson uses a chance based ritual to have a small community come together. The celebration is call a Lottery which takes two days to set up and only two hours to be finished. The celebration is the bringing of a community to come closer to become a close nit nation. The celebration brings much joy, happiness, and relaxation, so much that even some do not take it so serious. The author gives the example that some villagers even forget about the celebration. However as much joy that it brings, misery comes along with it. Out of the entire community one person is chosen, They then decide if it shall be an honor or a course. Throughout the story many characters

    Read More

  • Theme of Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 on how they go by there 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. The town's citizens are eager, gathering in the town square in order to take part in the yearly lottery. With the story focused around one particular family, the Hutchinsons, who are so anxious to get it all over with until they find that one of their members is to participate in the lottery's closing festivities, Tessie. Of course unlike your typical lotteries, this is not one that you would want to win. The one chosen from the lottery is to undertake a cruel and unusual death by stoning at the hands of their fellow townsmen for the sake that it may bring a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Ironically, many of the towns people have suggested that the lottery be put to an end, but most find the idea unheard of being that they have lived in it's practice for most of their lives. The story conveys a message that traditions may be valued so highly that those in their practice may do everything they can to ensure that they continue in accordance. From this a question arises. How far would one go to ensure their sacred traditions remain unscathed?

    Read More

  • Ritual and Tradition in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story leads to a horrific ending, with people forgetting the concept of ritual. When people think of a lottery, they draw an image with a big amount of money in their head. However, in the story “The Lottery”, the price is death. It starts in the morning of a bright, peaceful day, people are gathering in the square, children picking stones and piles them; also the black box used for drawing, “the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” (Jackson 205).

    Read More

  • Tradition in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals.

    Read More

  • The Dangers Of Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in "The Lottery"

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jackson uses the lottery's conductor Mr. Summers and also Mr. Graves whom oversees the lottery, together to symbolize life versus death, new ideas versus traditional ways. Most simply, Mr. Summers represents the season of which the lottery takes place, June 27th. Summer is known to be full of life and growth which is very similar to Mr. Summer's personality. He is described as a cheerful, jovial man wearing a clean, white shirt and jeans. Mr. Graves' name on the other hand refers to...

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, tradition is seen as very high and something to be respected not to be messed with. Although, the lottery has been removed from other towns, the village where the story is set in still continues to participate in the lottery. It is almost as if the other towns realized the lack of humanity in the tradition. However, the village still continues with the lottery even though the majority of the ritual has been lost or changed. The oldest man in the village complains about how the lottery is not what it used to be. There are hidden messages in “The Lottery” that reflects today’s society that the author wants to make apparent and change, such as, the danger of blindly following without any knowledge, the randomness

    Read More

  • Analysis of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    506 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

    4600 Words  | 10 Pages

    Shirley Jackson’s famous short story, “The Lottery,” was published in 1948 and remains to this day one of the most enduring and affecting American works in the literary canon. “The Lottery” tells the story of a farming community that holds a ritualistic lottery among its citizens each year. Although the text initially presents audiences with a close-knit community participating in a social event together on a special day, the shocking twist at the work’s end—with the death of the lottery’s “winner” by public stoning—has led to its widespread popularity, public outcry and discussion, and continued examination in modern times (Jackson). One potential critical theory that can be applied to Jackson’s “The Lottery” is the reader-response approach. This analytical lens is a “theory ... that bases the critical perspective of a text on ‘the reader’ and his or her personal interpretation” of that text (Parker 314). Reader-response criticism was coined by literary critic Louise Rosenblatt in the mid-20th century. It soon served as a cornerstone of literary movement in the 1960s and 1970s that later became intrinsic to the study of other schools of literary thought today. In using reader-response theory to examine “The Lottery” in a contemporary context, one might perform reading surveys and metacognitive questionnaires to determine whether the short story still proves resonant and thought-provoking. Therefore, just as “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson evoked an explicit and even fierce reaction in the past, so too does the use of reader-response criticism today help reveal that the short story may still hold the ability to sustain both its rising tension and surprising turn at the end.

    Read More

More about Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Open Document