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Examples Of Conformity In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is about a bizarre ritual performed in a town in which the townspeople proceed to follow every year. In a black, worn box they place all the names of the community. Once all the names are placed inside, Mr. Summers draws a name. After the name is chosen, this member will be stoned to death by the others in the community. Tessie Hutchinson in the story tries to reject the repetitive tradition of the lottery. In the end of the story Tessie Hutchinson, does in fact die from the lottery. This is proving the idea that those who live by conformity may die from it. The idea that those who live by conformity may die by it is shown when no one tries to end the lottery, also when Tessie does not protest until she is affected by the lottery, and finally when the townspeople do not understand the true …show more content…

In “The Lottery” Old Man Warner warns against not having a lottery. He says that there, “Used to be a saying about Lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon.” He also wishes for things to stay the same, as bad as they might be. In contrast, Mrs. Adams tries talk about the possibility of ending the lottery. Instead of trying to end the lottery, when the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson occurs, Mr. Adams is the head of the crowd.
The second example of the idea that those who live by conformity may die by it is shown when Tessie does not protest until she is affected by it. It tells us in the story that Tessie was almost late to the lottery because she was working on homework. It also tells us that she wants to put her married daughter in her family’s drawing to increase her chances of not being chosen. When Tessie gets chosen she protests in saying, “It’s not fair!” Tessie Hutchinson is a prime example of that people tend to except traditions that are harmful to others as long as they don’t affect them

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