“The Lottery”- Following Age Old Tradition
People everywhere live their lives based on tradition. These can be simple, from certain recipes to the way children are raised. However traditions can change overtime. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson follows one such tradition. One that with time, loses aspects and meaning. Jackson 's short story written in 1948 follows this theme throughout the exposition to the resolution of the story.
In “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson a diminutive farm town follows an important tradition. Each year a “lottery” is held in order to bring fruitful crops during the annual harvest. The winner of this “lottery” undergoes a painful death by stoning by the townspeople and their family members. The …show more content…
“It 's not the way it used to be...people ain 't the way they used to be”(6). Old Man Warner Is talking about how the tradition and the people have changed. Some people are beginning to have mixed feelings about the lottery and its true purpose. Also, Mr. Summers says “alright folks...lets finish quickly”(7).The townspeople have been through this many times before and at this point know what to do. Mr. Summers does not need to instruct the villagers about what happens next. “Although the villagers had forgotten about the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones(7). The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. Now that the drawing has concluded the winner receives their “prize”. The townspeople have forgotten or lost mostly every part of the original tradition but can never forget to use stones to brutally murder the “winner”. Furthermore the theme of tradition can be traced throughout the entire plot of “The Lottery”.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson closely follows multiple themes. The most prominent being the basic following of tradition itself, and how over time small changes can occur in these traditions. As for “The Lottery” the tradition was a brutal death by stoning of an innocent town member simply because they drew a marked piece of paper. This tradition seems very harmful and pointless as Tessie Hutchinson (protagonist) points out. ““It isn’t fair” Mrs.Hutchinson screamed “It isn’t right”, and then they were upon
People everywhere live their lives based on tradition. These can be simple, from certain recipes to the way children are raised. However traditions can change overtime. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson follows one such tradition. One that with time, loses aspects and meaning. Jackson 's short story written in 1948 follows this theme throughout the exposition to the resolution of the story.
In “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson a diminutive farm town follows an important tradition. Each year a “lottery” is held in order to bring fruitful crops during the annual harvest. The winner of this “lottery” undergoes a painful death by stoning by the townspeople and their family members. The …show more content…
“It 's not the way it used to be...people ain 't the way they used to be”(6). Old Man Warner Is talking about how the tradition and the people have changed. Some people are beginning to have mixed feelings about the lottery and its true purpose. Also, Mr. Summers says “alright folks...lets finish quickly”(7).The townspeople have been through this many times before and at this point know what to do. Mr. Summers does not need to instruct the villagers about what happens next. “Although the villagers had forgotten about the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones(7). The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. Now that the drawing has concluded the winner receives their “prize”. The townspeople have forgotten or lost mostly every part of the original tradition but can never forget to use stones to brutally murder the “winner”. Furthermore the theme of tradition can be traced throughout the entire plot of “The Lottery”.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson closely follows multiple themes. The most prominent being the basic following of tradition itself, and how over time small changes can occur in these traditions. As for “The Lottery” the tradition was a brutal death by stoning of an innocent town member simply because they drew a marked piece of paper. This tradition seems very harmful and pointless as Tessie Hutchinson (protagonist) points out. ““It isn’t fair” Mrs.Hutchinson screamed “It isn’t right”, and then they were upon