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Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Is religion a tradition? Has it been warped so much throughout the centuries that the different opinions have lost the very essence of religion in itself? We use religion as an excuse for many of the things we do in everyday life. America was founded on Christian beliefs, but we’ve held so tight to the old traditions that we can’t see the evil. The founding fathers meant to create a guideline on how our culture should work; they never expected to create a monster. I will deconstruct Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” to illustrate what can happen when American dreams turn into American nightmares. “The Lottery” is a story about a small town with an ancient tradition. This tradition was to have a lottery of sorts every year. The catch was that …show more content…

She made us look at our “traditions” for what they truly are. She shows us that what started out as an American dream to our founding fathers, turned into a nightmare. America is supposed to be about new beginnings. It’s a country where everyone is supposed to be free to choose how they live their lives. Just like in “The Lottery”, we never question whether or not these terrible religious traditions need to be replaced. By going along with what everyone else has been doing their entire lives, we aren’t living for ourselves. We lose the ability to make our own choices, and that takes away our individuality. We are no more than robots who follow blindly. The stones of this country are big and deadly, and we pick them up without a second thought. Maybe Jackson was hoping that this story would shine light on the truth. That maybe we would look at our hands and realize what we were doing. I believe she was hoping that there would be even one person to drop their stone. It’s okay to be different; it’s ok to have a voice, and to use it. Religion was never meant to become this evil tradition. Jackson believes it’s time to speak up. It’s time to stop going along with what everyone says, just because that’s how it’s always been done. It’s time that we realized that only dead fish swim with the

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