Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The irony of conformity in the lottery shirley jackson
The lottery shirley jackson tradition theme essay
The irony of conformity in the lottery shirley jackson
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Tradition is an evil dictator. Tradition can be simple or complex. Tradition has the power to force someone to do something or not do something. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the reader gets an uneasy feeling that tradition dictates everything. Jackson makes it obvious that this village is run completely on tradition and that everyone fears change.
One-way to ensure that the tradition of the lottery is continued, the children participate. The children are the first to assemble then the rest to the village. The total population in this village is only about three hundred people; this means that everyone is close and knows each other. Before the lottery is conducted, the children put rocks in piles and stuff their pockets with stones. These children not only watch someone they know get stoned to death, but they actually throw rocks that they collect. Children, which represent innocence, have to be taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong. The children in this village are taught that murdering someone is acceptable. Promoting violence in young children can lead to aggressive behavior later on in life. For example, a new fad in video games is fighting in a war like environment. Playing these violent games exposes young kids to death on a daily basis. According to Mihaela Chraif, “youngsters who play violent games have suffered a desensitization process”. (par. 32) A desensitization process is when someone has a diminished emotional response. This means that the children in “The Lottery” have no emotional impact when they murder one of their neighbors. They think stoning is a fun game, which will make the children want to continue on the tradition.
Something that the villagers did not want to change was t...
... middle of paper ...
... hands.” (Jackson 268) Mrs. Delacroix has to be in her late thirties, so she has been to a lot of lotteries and knows how to kill someone so it takes the least time possible.
Works Cited
Chraif, Mihaela, and Mihai Anitei. "The Influence Of Experience In Playing Violent Video Games On The Physiological Reactivity Recorded By The Polygraph On Romanian Youngsters." International Proceedings Of Economics Development & Research 31.(2012): 170. Publisher Provided Full Text Searching File. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 262-268. Print.
Zacharia, Sophie1. "Death By Stoning: The Uncertain Fate Of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani." Amicus Journal 26 (2011): 21-24. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it” (Twain). The Lottery begins during the summer. A small, seemingly normal, town is gathering to throw the annual “Lottery”. In the end, the townspeople—children included—gather around and stone the winner to death, simply because it was tradition. The story reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective. “I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Jackson). As humans develop as a race, their practices should develop with them. Shirley Jackson develops the theme that blindly following traditions is dangerous in her short story “The Lottery” through the use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony.
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
Evil can be evoked in the most kind-hearted person if tradition deems it ok. Though the years there have been many wars in which many men have fought, and killed. If not put in a war torn environment the men in those wars would never have killed anyone. School children continually bully each other, sometimes to the point of serious injury. Otherwise kind, loving children, gain strength through numbers and, as a group encourage each other, making it ok to torment another. Usually a much weaker and shy child is on the receiving end of this torment. The children in “The Lottery” symbolize how humans have a duel nature that allows usually friendly people to become violent when put in the right situation with the right conditions. “On a beautiful day in June the young children choose there stones. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix-- the villagers pronounced this name "Dellacroy"--eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.”(255) People in this small town are the same as in any small town, but when empowered with numbers and a tradition that deem it ok, evil shows it’s ugly face.
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?
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.
Screaming, yelling, and screeching emerge from Tessi Hutchinson, but the town remains hushed as they continue to cast their stones. Reasonably Tessi appears as the victim, but the definite victim is the town. This town, populated by rational people, stones an innocent woman because of a lottery. To make matters worse, no one in the town fathoms why they exterminate a guiltless citizen every June. The town’s inexplicable behavior derives from following an ancient, ludicrous tradition. With the omission of one man, no one in the community comprehends the tradition. In the case of “The Lottery,” the town slays an irreproachable victim each year because of a ritual. Shirley Jackson exposes the dangers of aimlessly following a tradition in “The Lottery.” Jackson not only questions the problem, but through thorough evaluation she an deciphers the problem as well.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. 4th ed. Boston: Longman, 2012. 643-54. Print.
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.
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.
Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” is a short story about the annual gathering of the villagers to conduct an ancient ritual. The ritual ends in the stoning of one of the residents of this small village. This murder functions under the guise of a sacrament that, at one time, served the purpose of ensuring a bountiful harvest. This original meaning, however, is lost over the years and generations of villagers. The loss of meaning has changed the nature and overall purpose of the lottery. This ritual is no longer a humble sacrifice that serves the purpose of securing the harvest but instead is a ceremony of violence and murder only existing for the pleasure found in this violence.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 136-41. Print.
“The Lottery” is a story which shows the complexity and capability of human behavior. Something immoral, like stoning a person to death once a year, is a normal occurrence. The main character, Tessie Hutchinson, is the victim of the lottery. Tessie is a character with a number of seemingly good characteristics, yet her surrounding culture rejects these characteristics. The majority of the people in the village has opposite attitudes and beliefs in comparison to Tessie’s. These attitudes and beliefs reflect her personal desires which quickly struggle against the culture’s expectations. Tessie is unlike the other villagers; she is initially indifferent to the lottery indicating her desires are unrelated to the lottery. Upon winning the lottery, Tessie changes and her personal desires to survive and reject the lottery emerge in her selfishness and outspoken personality. These struggles against the village’s expectations are shown through the culture’s emphasis on tradition and small town ties.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 989.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. Literature an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. 4th Compact ed. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Longman, 2005. 211-218.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that brings to light the problems a society faces when blindly following traditions. Due to a tradition as old as the town itself, every year someone is forced to draw the “black spot.” This black spot means that person is stoned to death, regardless of family status or even age. Communities have a tendency to stick to traditions, regardless of how logical it may or may not be, how old it is, or even whether or not everyone understands why they continue it; and traditions should always have their importance reevaluated.