Tradition in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay

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

Humans have many traditions, from having certain foods only for breakfast, to the father giving away his daughter on her wedding day, or Christians celebrating Christmas every December 25th. Most traditions are still continued, though people don’t know why they are still continued. In the Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, there is a lottery for each town, and everybody goes to the lottery. They put slips of paper into the box, and one is marked with a big black spot, and when Mr. Hutchison picks the slip, his family has to draw as well. Whoever in Mr. Hutchinson’s family picks the slip of the paper with the black spot is stoned to death. Tradition is running away from the fear of change. Because of the village’s strange tradition to complete

Society follows traditions that have been passed down over time, although, many do not know the origin. The short story “The Lottery” contains several symbols that were important throughout the story. Old man Warner is a fabulous example of a man stuck in the old traditional way of thinking. The old box, which hold papers, is another example the original tradition that has been around as long as one can remember. Additionally, the stones also represent death and participation of the group due to everyone joining. Old man Warner, the traditional box, and the stones are powerful symbols within “The Lottery” that show the deeper meaning of what the lottery represents.

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a village that holds an annual lottery where the chosen villager is stoned to death. The villagers treat this day as any other. They have become accustomed to this traditional event even though it ends with the murder of a random villager. As mentioned during our in-class discussion, the villagers are so accustomed to the event that everyone can participate without hesitation. For example, the Mrs. Hutchinson’s son Davy Hutchinson even partook in the stoning of his own mother. It is mind-blowing to see how this violent tradition has continued for so long. A character in the short story named Old Man Warner, a seventy seventh-time participant, implies that the tradition began as an offering

Throughout the years, individuals have invented or followed certain ways on how to live. Many believed in things such as love, math, science, and etc. But one thing that individuals have been doing throughout their lives is doing what they believe in, and that is living in tradition. Tradition is a big deal in many cultures but having cultural practices like traditions can lead to outcomes that can turn things around. In "The Lottery", it symbolizes how blindly following traditions can have horrible consequences through describing a town's ritual. "The Lottery" focuses on the tradition of the lottery not only in this town but how other towns are going against tradition by banishing the lottery.

The Lottery, a ritual that no one has ever thought to question, which represents any action, behavior, or idea that is passed down from one generation to the next that’s accepted and followed unquestioningly, no matter how illogical, strange, or cruel. “The oldest denizen of the town, Old Man Warner, points out that this is his seventy-seventh year participating in the ritual, called simply the lottery.”(Dubose 1) The “Lottery” is so much a part of the town’s culture, that the townspeople does not truly know what the tradition means but rejoice at the it nonetheless. That is the force that drove the theme In Shirley Jackson’s the “Lottery” with her use of setting, symbolism, suspense, and characters as she exemplifies blindly following tradition with obedience can be dangerous. The lottery is an extreme example of what can happen when traditions are not questioned or addressed critically by new generations because of the infamous word tradition.

In The Lottery, Shirley Jackson reveals that people follow traditions without knowing the reason or origin of the tradition. Religion and racism are two beliefs that people acquire from previous generations. Jackson’s purpose in writing The Lottery was to compel readers to think about why they follow their traditions. Most religious customs are not harmful, but the disturbing practice in the village draws the reader's attention. The theme that people follow traditions and beliefs of their ancestors without question can be explained through The Lottery’s setting, characters, and symbolisms.

Tradition is the back bone of every culture and civilization all across the world. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation. It is what keeps the beliefs, ideas, and actions of societies alive. However, not all traditions are practiced in good faith. Some rituals become so routine that people forget there is a life outside of these rituals. Societies can become familiar with “tradition” to an extent that they will participate in activities without questioning the ethics or morals of the situation. Eventually, when tradition takes over logic in each individual mind the outcome can be extremely dangerous. The role of tradition is a core theme in the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, which forces readers to ask themselves

The short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, depicts how tradition were existed and rooted in to villager's mind and culture. Villagers gather together in a certain day of the year in the central square for annual lottery. The winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the townspeople. The villagers even didn’t have enough knowledge about the history behind it. They did not want to make a new box due to fear of braking the tradition which they really didn’t have enough knowledge about the history behind it.

In the story of ‘’The Lottery’’ it covers about people trying to keep their tradition alive. It also covers on people that have evil in them. For example, every year in the story people get chosen in the lottery to be killed.

The meaning of tradition can be easily lost when blending into an entirely Patriarchal Society. In the fairly brief dystopian novel, The Lottery, the author dramatizes a small village executing their yearly ritual post to WWII; consequently, leading to the despair of one individual having their name being drawn as the ‘winner’ of the Lottery, which is conducted by the of tradition of being stoned to the death. Critiquing the fiction in a feminist perspective; Implicitly, traditions desensitize humanity, causing an oblivious loss of innocence within an entire society. With this in mind, Shirley Jackson resembles characters’ behaviours and actions morally blinded: through their lack of individuality due to conformity, the operations of a Patriarchal

Traditions are important and sacred in families, communities and cultures it is what makes lifestyle more unique and valuable. But sometimes traditions goes to the extreme and people will practice them in time without knowing the purpose or the meaning behind it. In this story Shirley Jackson start with a happy introduction describing the beautiful warm, sunny weather and describing the beautiful nature of the village and that sometimes signifies the irony in some stories hiding the dark, ugly truth. For example, Jackson starts with some kids collecting the smoothest and the sharpest stones to be used in the lottery event and it foreshadow the violence that kids are being introduced and raised on in this village. Mr. Summers who is the host

In her short story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson deals with the consequences of traditional practices, especially those rooted in implicit cultural beliefs. The traditional practice of the lottery represents the unwavering cultural beliefs held by the villagers. The opening remarks shows the extent at which the villagers have become indoctrinated into believing the validity of the practice. The description of the lottery paints a systematized and dreary practice which bears little to no emotional response from the villagers. The matter of fact way in which the villages seem to justify the practice bears immense parallel to the various cultural and traditional beliefs and practices held by each and every culture group both in the past and the present.

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 short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a village who have an annual lottery where the winner is stoned to death. I think the purpose of the lottery is for a tradition when the town first started, but now it has turned into entertainment.