Jackson’s Tradition
During a summer day bright with sunlight, a town celebrates an ancient tradition that concludes with the sacrifice of the winning leader of the household. Mr. Hutchinson picks the winning black-smudged slip of paper from the infamous black box, but his wife objects, resulting in her immediate five family members having to draw from the box. She gives her husband a second chance at life, but unfortunately, the second drawing results in Mrs. Hutchinson’s unjustifiable death (293-95). In order to exhibit how immensely against cultural ignorance she feels, Jackson utilizes tone, symbolism and motif, and irony to emphasize her theme, the idea that one should not follow tradition for the sake of following tradition because supporting a custom with unknown origins results in long term cultural defamation.
Jackson uses casual word choice and language to create a casual tone in order to showcase the nonchalance associated with the lottery. Citizens’ interactions throughout the antidote indicate that they feel casual about their unusual tradition: “Soon the men gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractor and taxes” (290). The men have a very casual conversation about everyday occurrence, such as taxes or weather, while participating in inhumane festivities, giving the readers the sense of a relaxed aura despite the events to come. In a like manner, Jackson refers to the lottery on the same casually celebratory level as the other happily commemorated holidays: “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities” (290). Mentioning other regularly celebrated holidays along with the lottery, shows that the citizens celebrate the lottery for an unknown purpose, and it seems practically normal to them. The use of tone correlates with the symbolism and motifs, which helps build the theme and understand the severity of disparaging traditions. Developing her theme, Jackson mentions the black box on numerous occasions to represent the impending death that sits in the corner of the individuals’ minds: “The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (291). The box embodies the meaning of what the lottery once represented and how …show more content…
Jackson commences her story by describing the setting: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (289). The gleaming weather at the beginning of the story contradicts the bleak situation. The description of the sun and warmth insinuates a jovial day ahead, when in actuality, the winner of the lottery will have stones pelted at them until they meet their impending death. Old Man Warner states the reason for sacrificing the unfortunate winner when he sights, “Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon” (293). In our society, the lottery is known as a event where individuals take the chance at winning money, but in the story, it is first known as a ritual that takes place in order for the town to grow successful crops, but most have forgotten this reason and now exempt parts of the tradition, forgetting their
During a summer day bright with sunlight, a town celebrates an ancient tradition that concludes with the sacrifice of the winning leader of the household. Mr. Hutchinson picks the winning black-smudged slip of paper from the infamous black box, but his wife objects, resulting in her immediate five family members having to draw from the box. She gives her husband a second chance at life, but unfortunately, the second drawing results in Mrs. Hutchinson’s unjustifiable death (293-95). In order to exhibit how immensely against cultural ignorance she feels, Jackson utilizes tone, symbolism and motif, and irony to emphasize her theme, the idea that one should not follow tradition for the sake of following tradition because supporting a custom with unknown origins results in long term cultural defamation.
Jackson uses casual word choice and language to create a casual tone in order to showcase the nonchalance associated with the lottery. Citizens’ interactions throughout the antidote indicate that they feel casual about their unusual tradition: “Soon the men gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractor and taxes” (290). The men have a very casual conversation about everyday occurrence, such as taxes or weather, while participating in inhumane festivities, giving the readers the sense of a relaxed aura despite the events to come. In a like manner, Jackson refers to the lottery on the same casually celebratory level as the other happily commemorated holidays: “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities” (290). Mentioning other regularly celebrated holidays along with the lottery, shows that the citizens celebrate the lottery for an unknown purpose, and it seems practically normal to them. The use of tone correlates with the symbolism and motifs, which helps build the theme and understand the severity of disparaging traditions. Developing her theme, Jackson mentions the black box on numerous occasions to represent the impending death that sits in the corner of the individuals’ minds: “The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (291). The box embodies the meaning of what the lottery once represented and how …show more content…
Jackson commences her story by describing the setting: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (289). The gleaming weather at the beginning of the story contradicts the bleak situation. The description of the sun and warmth insinuates a jovial day ahead, when in actuality, the winner of the lottery will have stones pelted at them until they meet their impending death. Old Man Warner states the reason for sacrificing the unfortunate winner when he sights, “Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon” (293). In our society, the lottery is known as a event where individuals take the chance at winning money, but in the story, it is first known as a ritual that takes place in order for the town to grow successful crops, but most have forgotten this reason and now exempt parts of the tradition, forgetting their