The Importance Of Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

What is the importance of traditions? We place a lot of importance on our past traditions, as they can serve as the foundation for they way we live our lives today. Traditions connect us to the generations of our past, whether it’s within our society or family life. We honor these traditions by passing them down to future generations. When we share these rituals with our children and their children, we are essentially keeping our family lineage alive. In a way, as long as the traditions are still alive, parts of ancestors will live on too even long after they’ve passed. Shirley Jackson uses imagery, characterization, and setting in ‘The Lottery’ to create the theme of traditions in society and whether or not to keep traditions going or stop. “Interestingly, Old Man Warner provides an explanation for the lottery that nobody listens to. His pronouncements about why the lottery can't end don't ever provoke comment from the other community members. Tradition works in this story as a force beyond reason. The village doesn't need to hear why they must keep holding the lottery; it's enough that they know they have to – and really, secretly, they kind of like it” (Shirley Jackson). Old Man Warner is disgusted after learning that other villages are thinking of giving up the lottery. Old Man Warner thinks it would be a huge mistake for his village to give …show more content…
She uses The Black Box to represent that no one liked to ruin traditions. "No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box" (Shirley Jackson). One representation of symbolism is the shabby black box that represents both traditions of the lottery and the villagers’ loyalty to it. “They do not question the purpose of the box; they simply think that the history and the tradition that the black box represents are right.” (Shmoop). They believe the tradition and meaning of it is