While The Hunger Games is from the dystopian future and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is present time, both stories have one thing in common, and that is the recurring theme of blindly following old customs and traditions and the problems attached to them, whether it is the “capitol” in The Hunger Games or the villagers in The Lottery. In both cases traditions are respected and strictly followed by the people, but it is at the cost of sacrificing innocent lives in the attempts to preserve traditions.
When old traditions are not questioned and blindly followed, the society is negatively and largely affected by its consequences. When traditions are so blindly followed, their true purpose and message is lost. In The Lottery, “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (421). “The lottery ain’t the way it used to be”, says Old Man Warner, “people ain’t the way they used to be” (421). Both stories focus on the fact that without reasoning, following unquestioned old customs can lead to unjust death. …show more content…
In The Lottery, this is shown when Tessie Hutchinson is stoned to death. In both cases the decision is simply made by drawing names. However, while the Hunger Games are an annual tradition of punishment for the districts and entertainment for the capitol, the Lottery is purely done to follow tradition. As Katniss, puts it, the capitol is “taking kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another [in the Hunger Games] while we watch- this is the capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their
When old traditions are not questioned and blindly followed, the society is negatively and largely affected by its consequences. When traditions are so blindly followed, their true purpose and message is lost. In The Lottery, “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual, and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (421). “The lottery ain’t the way it used to be”, says Old Man Warner, “people ain’t the way they used to be” (421). Both stories focus on the fact that without reasoning, following unquestioned old customs can lead to unjust death. …show more content…
In The Lottery, this is shown when Tessie Hutchinson is stoned to death. In both cases the decision is simply made by drawing names. However, while the Hunger Games are an annual tradition of punishment for the districts and entertainment for the capitol, the Lottery is purely done to follow tradition. As Katniss, puts it, the capitol is “taking kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another [in the Hunger Games] while we watch- this is the capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their