In 1948, Shirley Jackson wrote the famous short-story that would be read in classroom across America, called “The Lottery”. “The Lottery” is a short story about a small village who believe in a tradition that once a year someone will be picked at random, from a lottery, to be stoned by the whole village. It doesn’t say for sure why they do this but readers can assume that it is a traditional sacrifice to have good harvest in the fall due to Old Man Warner saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson 264). But besides the horrible fact that the village knows that sacrificing someone is inhumane, there are multiple themes used in this short story that make it even darker. By definition themes are, “The main subject that is being discussed
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At the end of the story Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned to death by the other members of the village, which to say the least, is violent. “Jackson enhances emotional impact...this suggest that horrifying acts of violence can take place anywhere at any time...addresses psychology by presenting citizens who refuse to stand as individuals...and take part in the killing...no grief or remorse”(Milne 142). Jackson wrote this story brilliantly on the psychological aspect by playing with our minds, where we are thinking “...the setting and mood make the lottery seem like a happy occurrence, in reality, the opposite is true. The winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the townspeople” (Text Overview 1). If it weren’t for the violence and cruelty in this story it would be boring and that isn't what a reader …show more content…
Throughout the story, Jackson writes little hints that the lottery is a tradition in the village. For example, one of the customs stated in the story is the black box. “ The black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born...No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” Even in that sentence they mention how the box was a tradition. It has been a tradition for so long, that the villagers forgot the aspects of said ritual (Jackson 261). Old Man Warner represents the theme of tradition in the story. He is always grumbling of how they shouldn’t stop the lottery because, “Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves...There’s always been a lottery” (Milne 143). Once again, he mentions that, “There’s always been a lottery”. Tradition is an important theme in the story because it also represents the blind faith in the villagers. They assume that if that they don’t break tradition everything will be peaceful in the village. They don’t question it because they dislike any change. Changing or removing this tradition would be drastic because the villagers wouldn’t know what to do because they haven’t lived in a time without the lottery, so instead they blindly follow the elders and don’t question the morality of sacrifice. Like Jiddu Krishnamurti said, “Tradition becomes our security, and when the
At the end of the story Tessie Hutchinson gets stoned to death by the other members of the village, which to say the least, is violent. “Jackson enhances emotional impact...this suggest that horrifying acts of violence can take place anywhere at any time...addresses psychology by presenting citizens who refuse to stand as individuals...and take part in the killing...no grief or remorse”(Milne 142). Jackson wrote this story brilliantly on the psychological aspect by playing with our minds, where we are thinking “...the setting and mood make the lottery seem like a happy occurrence, in reality, the opposite is true. The winner of the lottery is stoned to death by the townspeople” (Text Overview 1). If it weren’t for the violence and cruelty in this story it would be boring and that isn't what a reader …show more content…
Throughout the story, Jackson writes little hints that the lottery is a tradition in the village. For example, one of the customs stated in the story is the black box. “ The black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born...No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” Even in that sentence they mention how the box was a tradition. It has been a tradition for so long, that the villagers forgot the aspects of said ritual (Jackson 261). Old Man Warner represents the theme of tradition in the story. He is always grumbling of how they shouldn’t stop the lottery because, “Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves...There’s always been a lottery” (Milne 143). Once again, he mentions that, “There’s always been a lottery”. Tradition is an important theme in the story because it also represents the blind faith in the villagers. They assume that if that they don’t break tradition everything will be peaceful in the village. They don’t question it because they dislike any change. Changing or removing this tradition would be drastic because the villagers wouldn’t know what to do because they haven’t lived in a time without the lottery, so instead they blindly follow the elders and don’t question the morality of sacrifice. Like Jiddu Krishnamurti said, “Tradition becomes our security, and when the