Traditionalism In The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

There are many things that people do every day without questioning why they do them. These are our habits and traditions, and though for the most part they are unimportant they can be a crucial part of our culture and our interactions with each other. Sometimes there are traditions that can cause harm or are morally unacceptable. What should be done in this case? Edmund Burke, a nineteenth century politician and author, argues that it is best to stick with tradition rather than causing dramatic changes in people’s behavior. This is a key component in his argument against the French Revolution in his essay “Reflections on the Revolution in France.” In this essay he argues that the revolution will only lead the

Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” depicts a fictional dystopian society maintaining its peoples’ heritage through bureaucratic control. Through a variety of stylistic devices, symbols, and characters, Jackson’s story raises issues surrounding outdated traditions. Tradition is intrinsic to the human psyche; however, cultural practices do not necessarily reflect morality. The lottery that the title refers to is an annual event that takes place in a fictional society, but the author focuses on one specific community to describe.

According to Helen E. Nebeker, most acknowledge the energy of The Lottery, admitting that the psychological stun of the ritual murder in a modern, rural small-town cannot be easily overlooked. Virgil Scott, for instance, says, “the story leaves me uneasy because of the author's use of incidental symbolism: the black box, the forgotten tuneless chant, the ritual salute to assure the entire recreation of the procedure of the lottery forget to serve the story as they may have.” At that point, they indicate fundamental weakness by acknowledging that Jackson has preferred to give no answer to her story, but it leaves the meaning to our imagination, allowing a good deal of flexibility in our interpretation, while yet demanding that everything in the story has been obtained to assure us how we are to 'take' the ending events in the story. Maybe the critical conflict depicted above comes from failure to see that The Lottery really intertwines two stories and subjects into a fictional vehicle. The obvious, easily discovered story shows up in the facts, wherein members of a small town meet to decide who will be the next victim of the annual savagery. The symbolic hints which develop into a second, sub rosa story becomes apparent as early as the fourth word of the story when the date of June 27th alerts us to the season of the summertime with all its connotation of ancient ritual. From the symbolic development of the black box, the story shifts quickly to climax.

Easily regarded as one of America’s most beloved short stories, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, leaves readers with excitement and perhaps a small sense of doubt. Doubt could be an aspect of the reader’s mind due to the gory fact of the cultural tradition in the small farming town of the story. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” displays the theme of unwavering ritualistic tradition and symbolism. This means the village is unable to move past their tradition while symbolism is shown through character’s names such as Old Man Warner and Tessie and through various objects in the story like the stool and the black box.

When people think about the lottery, they usually connect it with luck and gaining a huge amount of fortune. However, in the short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the lottery was completely the opposite of what people would expect. Instead of being picked to amass a fortune, it is the people’s tradition in “The Lottery” to throw stones at the person who was selected. How did such a tradition come to existence? From each and every generation, the tradition was reforged into something entirely new.

Within the first few lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless events that lie ahead. Through the use of symbolism Shirley Jackson reveals the underlying decay of ethics that results from an empty ritual followed by narrow-minded people.

This essay is about ¨The Lottery¨,and in the story there is a tradition that you would not follow.Mr.Summers host the lottery every year and each year somebody gets picked and then somebody from the family gets picked then the person will get stoned.The story ¨The Lottery¨ is set in June 27th ,and school just let out.

Firstly, the theme of carelessly obeying traditions is explored near the beginning of the story with the seemingly innocuous village children gathering the stones needed for the event. Initially, readers can assume that the stone gathering had no relation to the "lottery" and was just a harmless little way to pass the time. It is only at the end that we realize the true purpose of gathering the stones, to throw them mercilessly at the "winner" of the lottery and ensure a brutal death. Amazingly, it has been made clear that the villagers have long forgotten the main purpose of this bizarre ritual with some noting that certain parts of it has been changed over the years, yet still intend to uphold it anyway simply because it has been ingrained

In the short story, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, there is a town in which they have an annual lottery. Each year, the people gather around the box holding small pieces of paper, one with a black spot on it. Each family then has the father of the family chose a slip. This year the Hutchinson family receives the chosen slip. Following the raffle, Tessie (the mother of the family), calls out that "it wasn't fair".

In the story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, we are introduced to a story where traditions can be dangerous. It is a warm sunny day, and the time is approaching for the event to occur, the people gather in the town square and prepare for what they know happens every year. Slowly but surely, one by one they draw from the black box and the one that draws the right one, is chosen. The other villagers stone the chosen one to death. Although some readers may think this is just a normal story about a parable, it represents much more than just that. The author portrays a story about an attack on a small-town America. Shirley Jackson gives the reader this understanding by using the elements of irony, foreshadowing and symbolism.

“A stone hit her on the side of the head. "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” (34). “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson which, sparked controversy when published in the June 26, 1948 issue of the New Yorker. Jackson used several different literary devices to support her theme that people who don’t question tradition get what they deserve. The literary devices Jackson uses to support the theme of ‘The Lottery’ are irony, foreshadowing, and pacing.

    Often, we paint a fairytale view of life for ourselves and our children. Sometimes, an author paints a frightfully realistic picture of life and forces us to reconsider the fairytale. In Shirley Jackson’s story, "The Lottery," a town each year conducts a lottery in which the winner or looser, in this case, is stoned to death by his or her own neighbors. The tradition is supposed to uphold social structure within the town, but in order to comprehend the true meaning of the story you must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is a story about a town that has let its traditions go too far. Also, it is clear that the story contains eye-opening facts that lead me to

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson commences on a sunny summer day in a miniscule village where people gather in the town square for the annual horrendous event. People may think of the title “The Lottery” as a drawing and a chance to win a prize, however, in this short story townspeople elicit out of a black box to discern who will be murdered from being stoned. The author includes conflict, irony, and symbolism to show how tradition causes disputes in a society.

“The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, features a small town during the highly anticipated lottery. The lottery is an annual event, organized by Mr. Summers, the “jovial” man who runs the coal business. It is a highly important time, as the whole town comes to the town square on the day of the lottery. The guidelines are quite simple: everyone takes a slip of paper out of the symbolic black box, and the slip of paper with the black mark carved on it, is the “lucky winner”. But the town’s definition of the lottery is different一usually, a lottery is a valuable thing to win. But when Tessie Hutchinson, the “lucky winner” gets her reward by getting stoned to death by the rest of the villagers, it is clear that winning this lottery can't be a good affair... so what is the purpose of this lottery? Rather than discontinuing the lottery, the town continues with it because they don't want to upset an old tradition.

Tradition; it is the back bone of every culture and civilization. It is what keeps the beliefs, philosophies, and activities of societies alive, to be passed down from generation to generation. However not all traditions are practiced with pure intentions.  Some activities become so routine, people don’t know a life outside of them. Societies become so accustomed to “tradition” that they will participate in pastimes without  questioning the ethics or morals of the situation. Ultimately when tradition takes the place of a rationalizing mind the outcome can be incredibly dangerous. The role of tradition is an underlying theme in the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, forcing readers to ask themselves “At what point do