The Role Of Tradition In The Lottery

Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” depicts a fictional dystopian society maintaining its peoples’ heritage through bureaucratic control. Through a variety of stylistic devices, symbols, and characters, Jackson’s story raises issues surrounding outdated traditions. Tradition is intrinsic to the human psyche; however, cultural practices do not necessarily reflect morality. The lottery that the title refers to is an annual event that takes place in a fictional society, but the author focuses on one specific community to describe.

Only when we are introduced to Old Man Warner, the only man in the village old enough to remember some of the traditions, do we get an idea of the purpose of the lottery. It seems to be a pagan harvest ritual, as expressed by his old saying: ??Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon?? (Jackson 369). By participating in the lottery the villages crops will prove to be bountiful. He justifies the use of the lottery simply by stating ?There?s always been a lottery? (Jackson 369).

It is human nature to uphold tradition. Shirley Jackson’s  “The Lottery” display’s the issue with society unquestioning approach to institutions. The shocking tale, which takes place in a fictional unnamed town in America, convey’s the dangers of clinging to tradition and not questioning the the institutions that practice them, and just how common they occur. Accordingly, these dangers manifest in the way the characters of the story accept the process of the lottery, but do not comprehend its purpose, the older generation’s disdainful view of noncompliance with tradition, and the townspeople’s callous demeanor in stoning Mrs. Hutchinson.

Things have changed in the last ten years. Look around. The phones, computers, and and other electronic devices looked much different in 2007. As technology marches on, we as a society continue to make efforts to better ourselves. In these endeavours, we tend to do away with things that are considered “redundant” or “old-fashioned”. However, as technology continues to improve, there will always be opposers. Think -- how many times have you heard someone complain about the technology and behaviour of the newer generation? Most will prefer the familiarity of traditions and old ways of doing things, whether or not those ways are efficient, morally sound, or harmful, such as in the case of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.

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

Tradition; it is the back bone of every culture and civilization. It is what keeps the beliefs, philosophies, and activities of societies alive, to be passed down from generation to generation. However not all traditions are practiced with pure intentions.  Some activities become so routine, people don’t know a life outside of them. Societies become so accustomed to “tradition” that they will participate in pastimes without  questioning the ethics or morals of the situation. Ultimately when tradition takes the place of a rationalizing mind the outcome can be incredibly dangerous. The role of tradition is an underlying theme in the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, forcing readers to ask themselves “At what point do

Tradition is an important part of everyone's life. Some people follow traditions so deeply rooted in their everyday life that they don't even recognize them as such. Why do you cook rice a certain way? Well, that's the way Grandma always did it. Others hold tradition above anything else. They feel that it is very important to follow these established customs and cannot even imagine rebelling against them although they may be hurtful in some ways. They may not even remember the reason for these customs in the first place. In the short stories "Everyday Use," by Alice Walker, and "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, the authors both express their attitudes towards tradition.

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.

In the story “The Lottery”, the lottery tradition had only a few changes in the way it was conducted since it’s beginning. Any idea, belief, or tradition that is passed down from generation to generation is bound to change in some ways from the way it originally began. The original black box had been lost and replaced with another one that was now falling apart, but the villagers refused to replace this box because it had always been part of “their” tradition. The chips once used in a box were changed to slips of paper and the opening start of the tradition with songs and salutes had also been lost and were no longer a part of it. Just as time changes, so does life and everything in life, but it is up to us to bring about the changes that

Conformity, the act of mimicking a groups behavior, attitudes, or beliefs. Is this a positive or negative thing? Others may say that it's a positive thing because it was the foundation of modern laws, but that was a very long time ago, does this positive light on conformity still apply? Conformity is a negative thing because the Holocaust, Tessie Hutchinson was stoned to death, and the mere presence of friends influences risk taking, and all three of these examples start with the same thing, Conformity.

In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”, tells the story of a small town that gathers once a year to do a lottery. This isn’t your typical lottery. In this lottery the winner loses instead of winning. The winner is stoned to death as a part of “tradition”. The town people blindly follow this tradition and are unwilling to change. Tradition is one of the main themes in this story and it should be left alone.

As times change, people are exposed for either being supportive of new ideas and values or for being non-accepting. People with traditional values tend to go with the latter and often demonstrate their distaste with aggression. Author Shirley Jackson reveals the role traditionalism plays within her fictional community in “The Lottery”. This lottery consists of the “winner” being stoned by the few hundred people in the village (314). In “The Lottery”, it is out of Tessie’s control that she is selected for the lottery.

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.

The Lottery begins like any other day. Clear and sunny skies, flowers blossoming, and green grass. Seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. Then people begin to gather in the town square. What is this lottery that is taking place? Do the people of the town agree with it? These questions can only be answered by exploring the minds of the people in the town.

Both stories talk about tradition. “The Lottery” talks about an annual tradition that is so ingrained in the community, a tradition that is pointless and harmless to the people. In “Dead Men’s Path” talks about a situation in which an outsider new to the community wants to make a change to the tradition he didn’t understand the value. Obi’s attempt to close the footpath that the locals believe is used by dead and unborn souls to enter the village. Obi uses rational, progressive arguments in discussing the matter with the village priest who, ironically, seems both more intelligent and more open-minded than the ideological headmaster. “What you say may be true,” admits the priest, adding “but we follow the practices of our fathers.” The results of Obi’s idealistic obstinacy ultimately prove disastrous for both the school and his career. Both stories theme is the tradition. In these two stories, it is apparent that tradition can be both good and bad.