Danger in Tradition In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a village prepares for their annual tradition of the lottery in which the townsfolk stone a person to death. The ritual was originally conducted to bring a bountiful harvest of corn, however, the meaning behind the sacrifice seemed to fade out while the tradition itself persisted. As surprising as it may seem, one can see instances of blindly followed tradition in today’s society: trick-or-treating on Halloween, blowing out the candles on birthday cakes, and eating turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving. These practices occur like clockwork across the United States and other parts of the world with little to no real reasoning behind them besides the excuse of tradition, erasing their purpose. When a tradition loses its meaning,
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The lottery itself proves as the greatest motif within the story. The lottery depicts danger in empty traditions in the most staggering way possible: neighbors and even family members killing one another for reasons they can’t even recall. Jackson paints the character Old Man Warner as the only person who still knows of the true reason. He scolds the other townsfolk for even considering letting go of the ritual exclaiming, “Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ ” (293). Within the lottery lies another layer of symbolism- the black box used to conduct the ritual. Jackson goes into great description of the box and how the people go to great lengths to preserve but also avoid it and even blantly states the symbolism the box has in relation to the ritual, “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box,” (290). The multiple layers of symbolism behind this corrupted ceremony all point towards the fear of the townsfolk and the danger behind the
The lottery itself proves as the greatest motif within the story. The lottery depicts danger in empty traditions in the most staggering way possible: neighbors and even family members killing one another for reasons they can’t even recall. Jackson paints the character Old Man Warner as the only person who still knows of the true reason. He scolds the other townsfolk for even considering letting go of the ritual exclaiming, “Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ ” (293). Within the lottery lies another layer of symbolism- the black box used to conduct the ritual. Jackson goes into great description of the box and how the people go to great lengths to preserve but also avoid it and even blantly states the symbolism the box has in relation to the ritual, “Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box,” (290). The multiple layers of symbolism behind this corrupted ceremony all point towards the fear of the townsfolk and the danger behind the