Lottery Traditions

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is set in a small town with a population being around 300 people, in this town everyone seems to be familiar and kind towards each other. Each year there is a lottery in this town which is a yearly tradition and everyone is there to participate in it. As all the villagers’ were gathered together, Mr. Summers had finally arrived with the black box to begin the lottery. The box had folded slips of paper inside of it and one of those papers had a black dot on it and to win the lottery you would have to pick that certain paper. The winner of the lottery this year was Tessie Hutchinson and out of no where all the adults and innocent children had ganged up on Mrs. Hutchinson and started to throw stones at her until her death. The author’s tone is what made this short story’s ending so unanticipated and the village had suddenly turned from being quiet and peaceful to completely violent and gruesome. The way everyone including her family had turned on Tessie

Then there is the actually lottery, were the drawings of a ticket by a villager. Just like a lottery this person is responsible to receive there “winnings”. After everyone, raffles out there sheet of paper, there is a ritual performed were families gather. Then the family members have to draw their numbers. Finally, Tess Hutchinson receives the winnings; a piece of paper with a black dot present. We soon realize that in fact, this is no winning at all; the black dot is a sign of death. To be stoned by the villagers of the town to keep ritual alive. End of story!

The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson spins a shocking tale of the horrors that tradition brings. The allegory centers on an annual town lottery, one where the “winner” is stoned to death. The townspeople are to draw a slip of paper from the black box, and the marked paper signifies who was chosen. This lottery has been going on for generations, and the only spoils of the old lottery is the black box. This shabby, splintered, and stained black box has been passed through generations for the lottery. It is the sole reminder of the tradition that people once had, and a solid reason of why the people of the town continue

As the stoning process begins, Mr. Summers announces, “'All right folks, let’s finish quickly,'” (p.209). This remark proves that this village does not cherish human life where they will do anything for a successful outcome. This ritual sacrifice is something the younger generations might foresee as something not right or barbaric to do. Mrs. Adams says, “‘some places have already quit lotteries,'” (p. 207). Old Man Warner who has been to 77 lotteries angrily argues, “'There always been a lottery...nothing but trouble in that, pack of young fools,'” (p.207). This shows that the young people are wanting to go off the trail and get rid of lottery because they see no good in it. The older generations see the lottery as a tradition that has been practiced for many years, it must keep living

A penny for the dead? The definition of ritual, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, “done as a part of a ceremony or ritual; always done in a particular situation and in the same way each time.” The relevance of rituals have played part in history including rituals with the dead, Indian ceremony rituals, and religious rituals. In the 21st century America, the roles of rituals have lessened and have become less of a common practice than of olden times. In The Lottery, the ritual of stoning the poor sap that “won” the Lottery is one that had been passed on from generation to generation. I believe that every culture has their own rituals that they believe play a significant role in their communities.

there is quiet conversation between friends. Mr. Summers, who runs the lottery, arrives with a black box. The original box was lost many years ago, even before Old Man Warner, the oldest person in the village, can remember. Each year Mr. Summers suggests that they make a new box, but no one is willing to go against tradition. The people were willing to use slips of paper instead of woodchips as markers, as the village had grown too large for the wood chips to fit in the box. A list of all the families and households in the village is made, and several matters of who will draw for each family are decided. Mr. Summers is sworn in as the official of the lottery in a specific ceremony. Some people remember that there used to be a song and salute as part of the ceremony, but these are no longer performed. Tessie Hutchinson arrives in the square late because she has forgotten what day it was. She joins her husband and children before the lottery can begin. Mr. Summers explains the lottery’s rules: each family will be called up to the box and draw a slip of paper. One of the villagers tells Old Man Warner that the people of a nearby village are thinking about ending the lottery. Old Man Warner laughs at the idea. He believes that giving up the lottery would cause nothing but trouble, and a loss of civilized behavior. A woman responds that some places have already given up the lottery. Everyone finishes drawing, and each

Shirley Jackson wrote a short story called "The Lottery". It was about small village and its village people of roughly around 300 people and every year they have a tradition where all the townspeople gather around a black box and have to pull a piece of paper out to see what family was to draw again. Then once the family was picked they had to put as many pieces of paper in the box as they have in their family and do it all over again. Once every family member picked out of the box, they had to open and see who go the paper with the black dot. The family member with the paper with the black dot was to be stoned.People all over the world follow traditions, but the real questions is do they know the meaning behind the tradition.

In a lottery most people are willing to do anything to win, However in one unique town the lottery works a little different. Last week on June, 27th the villagers of Deathstown, Virginia gathered in the time square to hold their annual lottery. The lottery in DeathsTown is very unique to the town because the winner gets stoned to death with rocks. In the lottery the head of each family usually the dad, goes and pulls a piece of paper out of a black box. Then whoever draws the piece of paper on it with a black dot must make their whole family draw from the box. Then each member of the family draws a piece of paper out of the black box and whichever family member draws the piece of paper with the black dot gets killed. Some people might think this harsh but Old Man Warner, a villager of the town said,”The lottery is a necessity and we must keep it to stay civilized.”

Typically, when one hears the word lottery, they think about someone winning a desirable prize. Unfortunately, this is not the case in a small American town that Shirley Jackson introduces us to in her novel, "The Lottery". In this novel, readers get to know a patriarch community that takes part in an unusual annual tradition. In this tradition, the town gathers to play a game. The head of each family in the town draws a slip from a black box. One of the slips in the black box contains a black dot. This game is the town 's form of a lottery; who ever draws the dotted slip will be stoned to death by the other town members. The story starts off serene and idyllic but by the end readers witness a murder. Shirley Jackson’s, "The Lottery”, shows how people often hold on to traditions even when they are barbaric and have lost their meaning. She does this by showing readers that members of the society will hold on to inhumane practices simply because the practice is considered tradition. In this exploration of this towns traditional "lottery", Jackson leads the reader down a savage story line. Jackson is able to draw on the ethnic appeal by focusing on the very moment of the stoning. After the stoning, the reader is able to look back and see several details they might have missed or overlooked. The tradition has taken control of the community members.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story on people around the world having a drawing to be stoned. Jackson infers that The Lottery is not a collective murder because it is tradition, it is like going the the grocery store. It is normal to the people in The Lottery. The Lottery is a tradition. If they have laws, the laws are probably set up so that when the winner of the Lottery is killed nothing will happen because it is their tradition it is all they know how to do. Jackson made The Lottery a tradition so the laws were made to not have any negative effect on the tradition of the lottery.

Tradition and ritual of the small village, that to kill one of their own each year that surrounds the lottery is unfair and illogical. The story is about a small town in which its inhabitants have maintained an ancient practice that began with their ancestors. This traditional practice is the lottery. It starts in the town square on a warm June day in a town of about 300 people and describes an annual tradition of an event in the town.

In The Lottery a dystopian story by, Shirley Jackson the town gathers to participate in the annual lottery. Although, this lottery is very different. Everyone draws a slip of paper from the black box. The person who picks the paper with the black dot is sacrificed. Then they are killed by being stoned to death. Some neighboring towns want to give up the ritual and some have already, but Old Man Warner thinks it is necessary in order to have a plentiful year for growing crops. Throughout the story, Shirley Jackson shows that people need to be more open to change especially when their beliefs are harmful.

Many people do things without questioning them. They do not know why they do it, or why they should not do it. All they know is tradition. The short story, “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson demonstrates such habitual, ritualistic behavioral traditions followed by a village. This custom is known as the Lottery. The villagers do not challenge this praxis because it is the social norm. The townspeople adhere to the general guidelines of this savagely cruel ritual by brutally murdering another person to repent for their sins. However barbaric this tradition may be, the townspeople do not oppose this group homicide because it is a practice that they have accepted for many years. Unthinkingly doing something with the only reason being

In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, every 27th of June, in the middle of the town, there would be a huge litter of rocks with red “paint” on it. That “paint” is called blood. Surprisingly this day is “special and usual” for nearly everybody in town. They named this event the “Lottery”, the lottery is an event where each head of the household draws a slip of paper from the shaggy, old black box which is older than the oldest person in town, Old Man Warner(78) whichever family gets the black dot on their paper they are the “Winners.” As “winners” each member of the family gets to draw in from the black box, whoever gets the black dot “wins”, as celebration they stone he or she to death. This year the winner is Tessie Hutchinson.

When we think of tradition we typically think of holidays, who cooks dinner and who puts the star on the top of the tree. In “The Lottery” a short story by Shirley Jackson alters the belief of good tradition transitions into a bad one. The citizens in this small town follow a tradition that one might not see every day. The title for one makes readers think of hope and a prize of some sort will be given to a winner. Then the story begins with a description of a beautiful summer afternoon, which is very warm and welcoming. The town anxiously gathers in the town square to take part in the yearly lottery. This lottery is not like your ordinary lotteries; this is one that you do not want to win. The winner of this lottery will be stone to death.