Theme Of Tradition In The Lottery

To actually have a tradition in place, it has to be followed and duplicated with very few or no change. For centuries, non-essential traditions and acts have been practiced all for the reward of approval from a group or community as a whole. Even if the tradition may be wrong and distasteful, only the people being directly affected by it will speak against it. Deadly and harsh practices such as hazing and stoning have been followed for the induction into the sororities, fraternities or society, yet does not serve a real purpose for acceptance. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” she reveals and emphasizes, through imagery and plot, that people of today and in previous eras conform to unnecessary, evil, and fake traditions because of a thirsty

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a deceptively simple story about a small town community that holds an annual lottery. Naturally, what makes the plot less simple is the way the story ends with one of the townspeople being stoned as a result of “winning” the lottery. A deeper look at the story reveals that the story is about tradition. Although tradition is often considered to be something positive, in “The Lottery,” tradition is something undesirable and even deadly.

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

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

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

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.

With its quaint and picturesque introduction, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson paints a story of individuals who blindly and unquestionably follow tradition. The village lottery is an annual tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation, it is a part of the villagers’ culture. It is a tradition in which all three hundred villagers; men, women and children, participate in. A list of all the names of the village families and their households is made, when their names are called, one by one they draw a slip of paper from a black worn out, falling apart wooden box. There are specific rules set in place of who should draw the slips of paper from the black

The people in this story still show up for the lottery even though they know what happens when you win. The reason they still go is because its a tradition they want to keep. The story mentions something about other towns getting rid of their lotterys, but the town in the story keeps it due to tradition.

In the lottery by Shirley Jackson, One prevalent theme is Tradition.  In the beginning the village lottery culminates in a violent murder each year. Later everyone seems minded with a funny black box, and the lottery consists of little more than hand made slips of paper. This being said in the story traditions brings generations and families together. However, traditions practiced by the villagers of an unknown small town, a tradition appears to be as vital to the villager as New Year celebrations might be to us. Finally, as you can see traditions are really good in real life because you can see generations happen and families getting together, Also in the story “The Lottery” has so many traditions because every year there’s a violent murder,

Henry James once said, “It takes an endless amount of history to make a little tradition.” The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson deals with the insignificant nature of humanity when it comes to traditions. Today when one thinks about winning the lottery, one does not think about the community or close relatives; one thinks about how one is going to spend the money received. However, Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” represents a human sacrifice by means of stoning with the entire village participating. The lottery is a symbol that explains the rituals, and traditions which drive the community. Throughout the story, tradition plays an important role in the villagers’ lives. Tradition can cause needless problems in society. In the short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson emphasizes the danger of some traditions through her use of symbolism, irony, and conflict, suggesting that people are willing to follow traditions no matter what the cost. Blindly adhering to traditions and rituals and the way things have always been done can result in a village committing astonishing acts of cruelty.

What does one picture when the word lottery is said? A random selection and a person wins the big prize? Wrong, in the short story “The Lottery” all townspeople gather for a special kind of lottery. Not just any lottery though, one that is quite unique like no other. The townspeople and their families pick up white slips of folded white paper out of a black wooden box. Later to then open them and to find only one has a dark charcoal circle who later gets stoned to death annually.

Many families have traditions that they follow annually, things like setting up their Christmas tree a couple days after Thanksgiving or having Fourth of July parties. To this village, the lottery is a sacred tradition, something that the village had been built upon by the very first people to settle there. Every year the people in this town participate in a lottery that will bring one of their irfellow villagers to their death. The people continue to participate in the lottery because it is a sacred tradition.

Every year a lottery is held in different villages. In one small village the lottery only takes one day. All of the families gather in the town square ready for the lottery. Everyone lets a shady black box with pieces of paper in it decide whether they would live or die. This tradition has been going on before anyone that is still alive today was born. No one even knows why they have a lottery, they just do it to follow tradition. As they hear about other villages discontinue their lotteries people start to wonder, but the oldest man in town, Mr. Warner, talks bad about those villages ending the tradition and stops people from questioning before they even start. In the end the one with the black dot on their paper gets stoned to death

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.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson about a small village that does a lottery with a horrid result. The story first starts out with all the people at the town square waiting for the lottery, an annual tradition to start. Once the lottery starts the head of all the households must go to the box to select a slip of paper for their family, in which the Hutchinsons win, then have to select another piece of paper for each family member. Tessie Hutchinson picks the slip of paper with the black dot, which meant that she was going to get stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. There were many themes in The Lottery but Shirley Jackson emphasizes the theme of tradition through the whole story. Tradition should not be done if it cause harm to someone. Jackson’s use of tone, situational irony, and symbolism helps emphasize the theme of tradition.