Preview

Traditions And Customs In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
379 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Traditions And Customs In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson
After reading the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, I think the most important theme was Traditions and Customs. In this short story, the village that the story takes place in has a tradition every year called the lottery. In this tradition, one person is picked out of the village and is given a stoning, a punishment where people take rocks and throw them at you until you die. This tradition has been going on so long that the villagers cannot remember when it started. Also in this tradition, there are some customs like a black box which is never replaced, a black dot to indicate the winner of the lottery, and the head of the family, usually the husband, picks a slip out of the black box. In the story, Mr. Summers starts the lottery

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson explains two of the most important aspects of humanity: traditions and rituals. The story takes place in a small town in New England where every year a lottery is held, most people would relate lottery to wining cash. In this lottery one person will be randomly choose to be stoned to death by the people in the village including their own family members. The lottery has been practiced for over seventy years by the townspeople and even though the villagers do not know the purpose of this tradition or the origin of it, they keep it to show respect to their ancestors ignoring the fact that is cruel and it is turning the whole village into murderers.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many authors usually incorporate a theme in their piece of writing. A theme is basically the subject of talk on what the author’s personal feelings are. In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson the theme is the danger of blindly following traditions can eventually lead to you being cruel. The following theme with be supported through characterization and setting.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The horror that I felt when looking back upon this story, was only amplified by rereading it, knowing what the ceremony actually would entail. The unsuspecting reader begins the story thrown into a lovely summer seen in a quaint village. Details about children attending school, men and women chatting, lull the reader into contentment. Once the reveal is made, tiny, once insignificant details cast the story in completely new light, an awful one. This contrast between the relive happiness of the beginning, and the grimness at the end heightens the aspect of horror.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through her ability to display the grim reality of a small idealized town, Shirley Jackson unmasks the evil of tradition in “The Lottery.” She repeats that mindless rituals are unacceptable practices. Jackson begins her writing with, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (715). This first sentence gives us clues that there is not an extreme amount of emotion; it hints that the style reflects the attitudes of the villagers. The townspeople picture the lottery as normal and have no more emotion towards it than they do the flowers or the warm sunny day. The children begin collecting rocks as they are playing, and the adults…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author of the short story, The Lottery, is Shirley Jackson. In the lottery, the villagers of a small town gather together on the 27th of June for the annual tradition of the town lottery, which is conducted by Mr. Summers. In which, every year they select a random person to be stoned to their death, as they are the winner of the lottery. Emphasizing the theme of the dangers of blindly following traditions. This is shown through characterization, tone and dialogue.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is a tradition really a tradition if it’s meaningless and hollow? The original purpose of the lottery was to make corn growth heavy, but over time it was forgotten, and just done for the sake of doing it. At first, The lottery was actually for religious purposes, and many events followed and preceded it. Then it turned into a hollow tradition nobody really cared about. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, turns to a less observed topic, and gives us a very good example of what many of us do today.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Does thoughtlessly obeying tradition justify senseless and violent murder? The setting of the story takes place in a small fictional village around the time an annual event dubbed “the lottery” is being conducted, garnering the attention of the entire community. Furthermore, the tone set in the beginning is that of a jovial and positive atmosphere sharply contrasting the disturbing ending and revelation of exactly what “the lottery” is; all the while exploring themes corresponding to the potentially harrowing effects of blindly following tradition, the fear of change and the stagnating effect it can have, and the impersonal randomness of prosecution. To summarize, due to the reasons listed above, society should be more mindful of the traditions that it faithfully upholds.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    At first glance, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" seems like a shocking horror story meant to thrill the reader with an unexpected twist and create a sense of uneasiness. The lottery, at first, appears to be left up to chance, and the 'winner' is just one unlucky citizen of the village. However, if the reader takes on an analytical perspective while reading through this story, a common reference to ancient tradition surfaces. After considering the literary elements used, the underlying theme of barbarism in modern day religion comes to light. The black box atop the three-legged stool, the gathering of stones, even the summer day clues the reader in to the inevitable end of the lottery. Jackson uses abstract symbols such as her setting and character surnames, as well as concrete objects within her story to illustrate her theme of ritual sacrifice. Jackson's use of symbolism is more obvious in her description of concrete objects throughout her story.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is nothing less than a powerful story about a society that gathers once per year and holds a lottery. But this is not a lottery with a winner; it is a lottery with a loser. “The Lottery” is a chilling story because it depicts a sense of normalcy among the towns’ people when they randomly decided to kill a neighbor by practically just drawing straws. This story really asks the question, are rituals always a good thing? If rituals are a good or bad thing do we even know why we do it half the time? “The Lottery”, shows us that even though tradition may have been happening for years doesn’t mean that the traditions we choose to follow are beneficial.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Are you part of the societal norm? Some people believe once a law has been passed that you may exercise you rights despite going against the societal norm. Normally, a little piece of expensive paper won’t inhibit opposition from intervening. When groups differ from us they will almost always face opposition.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is often said that there is strength in numbers. While it is true that a large group of people has more power than an individual, a single person within a large group will almost always conform in some way. This weakens the individual and leads to fewer new ideas in order to maintain group status and agreement. Many times, rituals or ideas are allowed and accepted just because they are favored by a majority or have been part of that society for so long that they have become almost like a tradition. In "The Lottery", Shirley Jackson uses alarming images to guide the reader to understand the futility and foolishness of blind obedience to these rituals. The lottery “selection” emphasizes the importance of questioning what is right in front of you instead of just conforming mindlessly.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” it is evident that conforming to society and sticking with tradition can lead to outweighing personal morals./be a burden on the lives of people. Although The Lottery was a tradition that has been occurring for years, nobody sticks up to support their morals to challenge The Lottery. Not only does The Lottery limit the rights of many, but many other expectations in their society do too.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The setting is a rural and nondescript village with a few hundred people. On a beautiful summer morning, children get together in the square before they break into groups. While girls chat about themselves on one side, boys begin to collect stones and make a pile. Men and women gradually assemble in the corner of the square to get ready for their annual tradition - the lottery. The author places the story in the nondescript setting to give the readers a strong impression of the evil ritual the villagers do every year. The readers have no idea what the lottery really means until the winner is stoned to death. In my opinion, there are two main reasons why the townspeople take part in their yearly ritual. First of all, the townspeople manage to…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the short story, The Lottery by shirley Jackson, blind tration and resistance to change are explored through the story. Presented to anyone who might find themselves in the similar situation that the main character of The Lottery, Tessie Hutchinson found herself in. The invisible pressure that is enforced by society to act a certain way, and follow certain traditions is one of the main themes of this story. More importantly though, this story also encourages individuals who feel oppressed by society in one way or another to speak up and defend what they truly believe in, even though the price of that might mean their lives. In addition, author utilizes literary elements such as irony, symbolism and allegory.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948, yet still, leaves a mark on any person who gets their hands on it today. The story starts out by setting an enjoyable atmosphere at the beginning of summer. The community gathers and the story almost fulfills the reader’s idea of a perfect town activity. However, the story has a sharp twist at the end that leaves the reader in shock. Jackson wrote the story to leave an impact and whom how quickly human nature can change. Shirley Jackson shows the duality of human nature in the characters of the children, Tessie Hutchinson, and Mr. Summers.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays