Literary Essay Henry Ford once said that, “We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s dam is the history we make today.” This is easier said than done. In fact, some people love tradition and don’t want to get rid of it. Characters in the chosen short story either hate or love tradition. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson there is a town event every year. This town event is called the lottery. It is not your normal lottery. Whoever wins the lottery gets the “honor” of having the entire town surrounding you, throwing stones at you until you reach death. There are no exceptions if you win, you win. Some characters are striving to keep tradition alive like Mr.Summers and the Old man, who
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This black box symbolizes the tradition of the very old town. Everyone is whispering in the town about the lottery because they are too afraid to speak out in front of the town. In the text it states, “Seems like there is no time at all between lotteries any more, Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row. Seems like we got through with the last one only last week.” (94) The women who were whispering in the back row express their dislikes and hatred towards the lottery. The tradition of the lottery stresses the entire town out. Many of the adults want it changed but they are too afraid to say anything about it because it is a tradition. The text also states, “ The postmaster, Mr.Graves, followed followed him, carrying a three legged stool and the stool was put In the center of the square and Mr. Summer placed the black box down on the stool for everyone to look at. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long long time ago, and the black box that was now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the town, was born.” (93) This part of the text is explaining how old this tradition is. This tradition has been going on for a few decades, it is older than the oldest man and the original box was lost because it has been going on for so many years people couldn’t even keep track of it. This …show more content…
Characters in the chosen short story The Lottery the town event every year is hated by most of the town. Why would you want this tradition in your town? It is basically a way to murder someone without being hauled to jail. The black box is representing your future in this tradition. You pick little slips of paper out of it. If you pick the slip of paper with one darkly shaded black dot on it, it just decided for you it is your time to die. When you pick the slip of paper your heart drops as fast as a rock sinking to the bottom of the sea. Everyone in the town will get to surround you and throw little stones at you until you die. This death will be long and painful. If you think about it, everyone in the town is committing first degree murder. The definition of first degree murder according to findlaw is, “First Degree Murder: Definition. In most states, first-degree murder is defined as an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated,meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim.” No one is being punished for this horrific act. Everyone is able to murder an innocent person with stones because she drew a slip of paper out of a dark mysterious box. This all leads me to believe that traditions are not the best thing to keep alive and active throughout the
This black box symbolizes the tradition of the very old town. Everyone is whispering in the town about the lottery because they are too afraid to speak out in front of the town. In the text it states, “Seems like there is no time at all between lotteries any more, Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row. Seems like we got through with the last one only last week.” (94) The women who were whispering in the back row express their dislikes and hatred towards the lottery. The tradition of the lottery stresses the entire town out. Many of the adults want it changed but they are too afraid to say anything about it because it is a tradition. The text also states, “ The postmaster, Mr.Graves, followed followed him, carrying a three legged stool and the stool was put In the center of the square and Mr. Summer placed the black box down on the stool for everyone to look at. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long long time ago, and the black box that was now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the town, was born.” (93) This part of the text is explaining how old this tradition is. This tradition has been going on for a few decades, it is older than the oldest man and the original box was lost because it has been going on for so many years people couldn’t even keep track of it. This …show more content…
Characters in the chosen short story The Lottery the town event every year is hated by most of the town. Why would you want this tradition in your town? It is basically a way to murder someone without being hauled to jail. The black box is representing your future in this tradition. You pick little slips of paper out of it. If you pick the slip of paper with one darkly shaded black dot on it, it just decided for you it is your time to die. When you pick the slip of paper your heart drops as fast as a rock sinking to the bottom of the sea. Everyone in the town will get to surround you and throw little stones at you until you die. This death will be long and painful. If you think about it, everyone in the town is committing first degree murder. The definition of first degree murder according to findlaw is, “First Degree Murder: Definition. In most states, first-degree murder is defined as an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated,meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim.” No one is being punished for this horrific act. Everyone is able to murder an innocent person with stones because she drew a slip of paper out of a dark mysterious box. This all leads me to believe that traditions are not the best thing to keep alive and active throughout the