Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, discusses the problems of old tradition. Newer generations have questioned the old hierarchies and beliefs of their ancestors, persuading others to change their society with new ideas. For example, Jesus spend his ministry with sinners, tax collectors, and Gentiles to show the Pharisees and Sadducees that he came to save the lost, which broke the law of Moses (Matthew 9:9-13). The changes of old tradition to new tradition does not stop there; the Civil Rights movement, the women suffrage movement, and the LGBT social movements promote their rights to the government. As a result, they changed the laws to accept people of color, gender, and sexual-orientation to end racism and discrimination. Jackson’s
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Other villages took the risk to give up the lottery while Old Man Warner becomes stubborn and afraid to do the same for his village, calling the young folks “fools” (330, par. 31-34). This can be represented as the elders telling the young folks that they never understood their struggles, calling their own children “unwise” or even “stupid”. It raises the question about the older generations, unable to let go of their beliefs to change for a newer and forward-looking society. It answers the question about the problems of our older generation, such as why parents cannot accept their children for being homosexuals and why grandparents cannot work with mobile devices. This also brings why churches and communities cannot unite “old people’s wisdom and the young people’s energy” to change the world (Legend). With the division between old and new tradition, neither side would compromise. However, Jackson reflects mostly on the old tradition, since the village continues a dead tradition other villages have done, leaving the readers to condemn them for being afraid of change. In summary, Jackson uses an allegory of the chips of wood and Old Man Waner’s beliefs on the young generation shows how humans can change their society; however, the true problem is that they are afraid to change because they want preserving beliefs and
Other villages took the risk to give up the lottery while Old Man Warner becomes stubborn and afraid to do the same for his village, calling the young folks “fools” (330, par. 31-34). This can be represented as the elders telling the young folks that they never understood their struggles, calling their own children “unwise” or even “stupid”. It raises the question about the older generations, unable to let go of their beliefs to change for a newer and forward-looking society. It answers the question about the problems of our older generation, such as why parents cannot accept their children for being homosexuals and why grandparents cannot work with mobile devices. This also brings why churches and communities cannot unite “old people’s wisdom and the young people’s energy” to change the world (Legend). With the division between old and new tradition, neither side would compromise. However, Jackson reflects mostly on the old tradition, since the village continues a dead tradition other villages have done, leaving the readers to condemn them for being afraid of change. In summary, Jackson uses an allegory of the chips of wood and Old Man Waner’s beliefs on the young generation shows how humans can change their society; however, the true problem is that they are afraid to change because they want preserving beliefs and