In the course of human history there are vast numbers of cultural religious beliefs and traditions. Most traditions have been lost to time, however some traditions have been kept alive, to keep traditions from long past to be continued. Despite the potential dangers or repercussions that it may have on society. Most commonly society's all over the world have been following the traditions without even knowing who started the tradition. In Shirley Jackson’s, famous short story “The Lottery”, takes place in a small village, where the whole community participates in a traditional and annual lottery. Shirley Jackson, shows us through her story how society’s blind acceptance of traditions is dangerous. She accomplished this by her use of foreshadowing,
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Shirley Jackson’s use of foreshadowing kept the reader in suspense until the very end. We first encounter foreshadowing at the very beginning, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and grass was richly green.” (Jackson 443). Jackson has set a false sense of security, by opening the story on such a positive note, only for it to end on such a dark note. Another case of foreshadowing is when “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example” (Jackson 443). This was a major clue to the reader, that something was not quite right. Lottery's, in general don’t involve the need for rocks to participate in a lottery. When Mr. Summers need help with the black box “there was a hesitation before two men... came forward”(444). The fact that their was hesitation in the crowed, gave us another clue that something wasn’t right. Evident to the fact that, at the end a member of the community was killed in such a horrific way; all do to their tradition. Only at the end of the story does the reader find out the truth about the lottery. The fact that the community was somewhat hesitant and nervous to participate in the lottery, they went along it, because it was tradition. Jackson shows the reader that blindly following traditions can be dangerous
Shirley Jackson’s use of foreshadowing kept the reader in suspense until the very end. We first encounter foreshadowing at the very beginning, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and grass was richly green.” (Jackson 443). Jackson has set a false sense of security, by opening the story on such a positive note, only for it to end on such a dark note. Another case of foreshadowing is when “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example” (Jackson 443). This was a major clue to the reader, that something was not quite right. Lottery's, in general don’t involve the need for rocks to participate in a lottery. When Mr. Summers need help with the black box “there was a hesitation before two men... came forward”(444). The fact that their was hesitation in the crowed, gave us another clue that something wasn’t right. Evident to the fact that, at the end a member of the community was killed in such a horrific way; all do to their tradition. Only at the end of the story does the reader find out the truth about the lottery. The fact that the community was somewhat hesitant and nervous to participate in the lottery, they went along it, because it was tradition. Jackson shows the reader that blindly following traditions can be dangerous