Tradition In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Mr. Summers frequently asks the villagers about making a new box, but “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box… Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done.” (Jackson). This quote shows just how reluctant the townspeople are to change anything. It almost seems as if they’re scared of what could happen. Another good example of their reluctance is, “"Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery."” (Jackson). Warner says this about a neighboring town in the north that wants to get rid of their lottery. His remark about ‘lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ can be interpreted as the lottery is the reason why these people have

A lottery is a process that is entirely controlled by chance, whether there is loss or success is dependent on luck. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a small town that holds an annual lottery. The lottery itself is an age long tradition that started so long ago the ritual had been mostly forgotten. The villages around them have shut down the lottery, because of how old and forgotten the lottery is. This shows how people will blindly follow tradition no matter the age of it.(Jackson, “Read The Lottery...”).

And now it becomes meaningless, and they are just blindly following the tradition that they have always done. Old Man Warner is the oldest person in the town and have been a part of the lottery for seventy-seven years. He is the only one that strongly believes that the lottery is a good thing and they should never stop doing it. Old Man Warner says, “[There] used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.” (52) Old Man Warner talks about how the lottery correlates to the presence of more corn crops, and he strongly states that without the lottery, they would be eating chickweed and acorns. This is probably the original reason for why they started the lottery, it was to have good crops. Old Man Warner is the only one who truly cares about the lottery, the other villagers just do it to follow their tradition. Old Man Warner thinks that “nothing’s good enough for [the people who have stopped the tradition of the lottery.]” (52) He strongly opposes the idea of not having the lottery and he thinks that the people who have stopped it are out of their minds.

Shirley Jackson’s use of characters is very detrimental to keeping the theme of the story lively. Whether they play a minor or significant role to the story each character reveals a lot of information about the tradition of the lottery and its intentions, varying from subtle to obvious details. One of the most important characters is Old Man Warner, an elderly man who is very conservative about the preservation of this tradition He holds it dearly to his heart, despite the fact that this tradition is slowly deteriorating in villages around him. Old Man Warner represents the stubborn nature of all the townspeople who are reluctant to

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

“Because so much of the ritual [has] been forgotten or discarded” (Jackson 205). How can people follow a rule without knowing it? The villagers just ignore what the signification of the ritual is; they would like being blind, just follow the process. There is a point about Old Man Warner. When people suggest canceling the drawing, he said, “‘Pack of crazy fools.’” (Jackson 208). Jackson also states his words: “lottery in June, harvest soon” (207). The drawing of death symbolizes harvest in elders’ eyes. He gets really nervous when people say they should quit the lottery because he is the oldest man in town, it’s his duty to keep the village organized. No matter what price they would pay for it.

Traditions are widespread among many different people and cultures; It is an explanation for acting without thinking. Not all traditions are a good thing, though, and blindly following them can lead to harsh consequences. The villagers in a small town in “The Lottery” gather together annually to participate in this tradition, where one person in the town is randomly chosen in a drawing to be violently stoned to death by citizens. It has been around for seventy-seven years and everyone partakes in it. People always attend, showing the importance of tradition amongst the society. However, in the short story, “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses many literary devices to show that traditions are not always meant to be followed.

The village seems rather uncivilized and immoral in contrast to the modern, Western world. Their ritual stoning of an innocent person shocks the reader and immediately changes our perspective on the village. Jackson doesn’t clarify the purpose of the lottery, but Old Man Warner mentions that there “‘[u]sed to be a saying about “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”’” (Jackson 4). From this saying, we can deduce that the villagers once believed that a

Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is set in a small village who relies deeply on their crops. This story is about a sacrifice that takes place every year in which the heads of households draw for their families in order to see who “wins” and saves the town. The readers grow close to a character named Tessie who decides to speak her mind when it’s too late. In the end, the townsfolk realise that what comes around goes around.

The villagers' boys learn as they grow up that the practice of stoning a person every year is part of life. The young boys select the "smoothest and roundest stones" (Jackson). This implies that to them, the lottery is like a sport. One would think that the boys were gathering stones in innocent play. However, this adds to the surprise that Jackson established in the beginning. In the end, the actions of these boys show the corrupted minds of the villagers. This practice was embedded from young to old, because "someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles" (Jackson). The people can't reasonably explain why they are picking up stones, and then killing someone--it just becomes a cold unfeeling motion. From their very first lottery, the young boys are trained to practice such a barbaric ritual. This explains why the boys do not analyze the motive for the lottery while while growing up. The tradition has been implemented into the minds of vulnerable

“Their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed.” (1) Jokes are supposed to be amusing, funny and full of joy. Why are the villagers not excited for the lottery? This makes the reader feel like something is preventing them from being joyful. “The villagers kept their distance, leaving space between themselves and the stool. When Mr. Summers said, ‘some of you fellows want to give me a hand?’ there was a hesitation before two men.” (1) Why are the villagers avoiding the box with the winning lottery ticket in it? For the villagers to refuse to help Mr. Summer's is surprising because the lottery is usually what everyone want to be a part

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

Adams said.” (kirszner and Stephen pp.308). Even though they knew of another way to do things, still what they were thought was more resonant "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools." (kirszner and Stephen pp.308). To reiterate his point, he added "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns” (kirszner and Stephen pp.308). Finally, to reinstate my point the old man finished with “There's always been a lottery” (kriszner and Stephen pp.308).

They choose a person from the black box they use every year, and even though most of the traditions have been lost in the lottery, the one that they remember clear is murder with stones. Towards the end of the story, Mrs. Hutchinson is killed because she is the winner of the lottery. Children, adults, and everyone picks up stones prepared to kill her without any erudition of why they are doing it and the purpose for them doing it. Since they are using the lottery to kill people, the quote that can give a possible reason for the killing tradition in the story says, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”, which is what Old Man Warner said was an “old” saying. Since it was used back then as people get killed in the Lottery, then the ancestors must have created the lottery as a way to help crops grow in the winter months.

Furthermore, the people in this story were attached to the tradition for the wrong reasons, aside from the fact that they did not know the reason it was put in place decades before, they were scared to change the norm of their town because they did not know anything different. No one in the town dared to question the tradition, except for the younger generation. “They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery” (Jackson, 4). The social hierarchy that Jackson implicitly represented was also relatable to the one in the war. Mr. Summers was represented as the conductor of evil, the one who continued and forced the tradition on others because it did not affect him