Tradition in The Lottery PDF

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Used tradition as the main point to uncover how it helped keep family together in the story "The Lottery"...

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Marshall 1 English 1102 8 March 2019 Tradition in The Lottery Every civilization and culture practices tradition, making it a backbone to every community. It keeps beliefs, customs, and activities alive to be passed down from one generation to another. The beliefs become habits and become an essential part of their culture. Views play a significant role in how they live their everyday life. Whether traditions are celebrated within a person’s family, or all over the world. Surely, not all communities practice traditions with pure intents. People all over the world blindly follow traditions without knowing the real purpose. Some beliefs become so custom to the people; they do not know life outside of them. Shirley Jackson’s short story "The Lottery" is no different. A rural village with a community of about three hundred people gathers on the same day every year, June 27th. The townspeople gather together in their social groups to gossip about their daily lives. The people round up their stones in a pile as the young boys shove them into their pockets. The townspeople all gather to form a bundle of people. Mr. Summers who is head of conducting the lottery brings out the old black box which held all the villagers' names. Mr. Summers calls everyone's name and whoever gets the paper with the black dot is the "winner". The idea of a lottery is to win a prize, and the reader is led to believe the winner will win a prize when in actuality they will be stoned to death. Jackson uncovers that when people blindly follow ritualistic traditions, they may become murderous mobs. This ceremony proposes how dangerous traditions can be when people follow them blindly. The "winner" of the lottery gets stoned for no coherent reason. Recklessly following this tradition has permitted ritualistic murders to become a part of this town's heritage. The stoning happens once

Marshall 2 every year to an innocent mother, father, son or daughter. The townspeople have accepted the tradition for years, and they continue to follow because they do not know life outside of it. Blind approval of the lottery has given the freedom for ceremonious murders to become a part of this town, for the reason of tradition. "Guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work" (Jackson 141). The townspeople do not question what they are about to do. These citizens have taken time out of their day to gather up and stone a member of the town to death. None of the citizens have any remorse for the acts they commit. The town people return to their jobs with no regret. No one stops to question why he or she does it, and therefore the horrendous acts of murders will continue to happen every year. The town blindly follows this tradition without knowing the true intentions of it. The people accept what they think the tradition should be, and continue it every year. Jackson shows the lottery as a dramatic example of what can happen when people do not question what they celebrate. Traditions are common in small towns; it provides a way for the community to connect. People become so accustomed to tradition that they will not question ethics for the morals of the situation. Ultimately when blindly following tradition the outcome can be incredibly dangerous. The people may believe they should have no reason to question the tradition. With the unchanged preparation and lottery every year, they may have grown up with this same tradition. The village has a “random execution of a member of the community in what appears to be a barbaric, primitive ritual grounded in tradition" (Shields 412). Tradition is engraved to what the villagers know. The villagers have to have a lottery simply because it has become a tradition that was followed by their ancestors. The lottery almost makes it seem “that people can be brought to work together wholeheartedly and without mercy if they believe that their protection depends upon it” (Oehlschlaeger 263). As a result, the villagers have become accustomed to repeating this

Marshall 3 practice that they do not find anything wrong or right with it. The villagers do not even know why they conduct the lottery; however, they will not question it. The consequences continue as the villagers follow each other's steps in not uncovering the pure intentions of this tradition. The villagers lost their sense of value as a community. At the mere questioning of the lottery, for those who asked, the thoughts of how ridiculous it would be to stop since it has always been a tradition. Jackson coveys that humans have the intent not to question the purpose of their actions. When blindly following tradition it can contour into automated actions which will lead to a higher change of evil doings, hence why the villagers do not see what is wrong with stoning someone to death. The villagers repeatedly follow this unquestioned tradition leading them to lose their morals. Also, the reality behind this ritualistic lottery is gruesome. Each villager does preparations for the town lottery which ends with the murder of an innocent town member. On the 27th of June, the villagers begin to gather in the middle of the town to prepare for the stoning. The men, women, and children participate in this annual tradition. The town made a murder that is so horrific seem so simple. The villagers have created the lottery to let ritual violence become normal and act as a civic activity. Before the lottery begins, the children play outside and gather stones to use for the stoning. The men speak of planting and rain, and the women come dressed up in their faded dresses and sweaters to exchange gossip. “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones . . . (Jackson 139). Jackson reveals to the reader that everyone, even young children participate in the stoning. The ritual has become so normalized the children play around to see who can get the smoothest stones. When describing the lottery, it seems to be a normal

Marshall 4 community gathering, but the reality of it ends in horror. The horrific acts the family or friends commit to the "winner" is appalling. The adults let the children run around and play to see who can get the smoothest stones. Children are get shown that it is normal to have these ritualized traditions, which could lead to long term emotional trauma. The story exposes a crude, traumabased lottery system where people get murdered in front of innocent children. Ultimately the stoning could lead to long term emotional effects of the children. The elders in the community are mind training young children to become murderers. "The Lottery" incorporates a graphic demonstration to expose the villager’s grim reality of blindly following tradition. When preparing for something, but making it seem so normal, makes it seem almost acceptable. In Jacksons “The Lottery” it illustrates an unspoken tradition that is followed by everyone in the community. The tradition in this small rural village has become so custom to the people's beliefs that they do not see anything wrong continuing this form of a lottery. The adults represent this tradition as the backbone to their community, and the kids follow. The villagers uncover “the awful doubleness of the human spirit—a doubleness that expresses itself in the blended good neighborliness and cruelty of the community’s action" (qtd. in Chen 1022). Indeed, while the community is pleasant to one another, on the day of the lottery, they form a cruel mob. The lottery unmasks the dark violence behind this town. From the first glance at this village, it seems like a typical neighborhood gathering until it reveals that murder is what keeps the townspeople together. The villagers take on a carefree attitude toward such a primitive ceremony. As young children view their parents committing these atrocious acts, it becomes relevant to them that this tradition cannot be wrong. The villagers carry on their day after the stoning like they have not done any abnormal act. The grim reality behind this village is no secret. The

Marshall 5 tradition is constructing a community of ignorant minds compelling them to follow a blind crowd. A mob mentality forms when people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors or actions. In the story, the tradition of the lottery is an action that is approved by the town people. They gather together to draw the name of who they will murder together. The mob chooses the best stones, and everyone then participates in stoning the "winner" to death. The tradition has created a community of murderers. The lottery enables the citizens to fall into becoming a murderous mob due to its tradition. The villagers in the community see the wrong in stoning an innocent person to death. Since every villager is participating in the stoning, it justifies their actions. Everyone consents to the entire ritual and continue to keep it. The tradition is masking these villagers into believing what they are doing is usual for a community. The people in the village are so beholden to tradition that it is blocking their dignity or common sense. The villagers do not seem repulsed by the act they are going to commit; they gather together before and joke around. As the stoning is happening “a stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone"” (Jackson 144). Old Man Warner seems to have an eagerness to contain the mob to keep throwing stones at "the winner". The tradition has led the villagers to enjoy the lottery, creating a murderous mob in this small rural village. The lottery is never talked about an hour before or an hour after. Jackson uses the lottery to reveal pointless violence through the mentality of a mob. A tradition like this controls how people behave; it forces and establishes customs within the villager’s community, forcing them into a murderous mob. The murderous mob in this village nearly seems in a trance. The villagers are unable to have questions for the ritualized lottery until it is too late. The question then hanging in the

Marshall 6 background is why do the villagers not do anything before it is too late? It becomes relevant that "a group of ordinary people can commit extraordinarily horrible deeds, if people in the group are unable or unwilling to think for themselves" (Bogert 47). Certainly, the members in the village are committing such serious acts without any hesitation, but they never communicate how they feel about the acts. The villagers go about their days like it was any other. The villagers pretend to be a perfect community, but the ending leaves the readers surprised. The murderous mob gathers “expressing no judgments or emotional responses to the events" (Robinson 2) The mob created by this tradition is harsh and gruesome and kills like it is their second nature. The crowd draws the attention from the actual stoning to why do the villagers think this is right. Relating to maybe the townspeople are in a trance. Killing someone important to you seems unbearable, but this village forms as a mob and performs it every year. The ceremonial tradition has a deranged reality of a murderous mob following it without any knowledge. The torture of this ritual influenced the villagers to run away from hesitation. When they gather together, all of their emotions wither away, and they are left being a murderous mob. Ultimately, blindly following a tradition that becomes met with a brutal background may form a murderous mob. The approval of the stoning has left innocent people dead. The heartless reality of what this village does to celebrate is shocking. Children are being pulled in to help murder a harmless person in the town. The children are being exposed to such destruction, that it could lead to emotional trauma. Leading a village with a celebration like the stoning has formed them to become a murderous mob. The villagers are masked by the tradition and are unaware of the acts they are committing. Without thought, they commit this crime altogether, every year. Indeed, traditions are the backbone of the community. Whether or not it is strong is the difference. Having a strong backbone will keep the village in form and will keep it from giving

Marshall 7 into itself. A tradition that has a community that has been following it for years would be considered strong. The stoning has kept the rural village intact but has not held the people together. The tradition of the stoning has caused multiple innocent people to get murdered by their neighbors. Without any remorse for the person the villagers have just killed, they continue their day. The villagers do not dare to question the worth of their tradition. Everyone in the village will continue to grow with this cruel mentality. The tradition has become the backbone to this village, but it has made the people inside, weak.

Works Cited

Bogert, Edna. “Censorship and ‘The Lottery.’” The English Journal, vol. 74, no. 1, 1985, p. 45., doi:10.2307/816508.

Marshall 8 Chen, Fuyu. “A Representative and a Scapegoat: Analysis of Tessie Hutchinson in The Lottery.” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 2, no. 5, 2012, doi:10.4304/tpls.2.5.10221026.

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing Compact 6th Edition, edited by Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig, Pearson,2015, pp. 139-144.

Oehlschlaeger, Fritz. “The Stoning of Mistress Hutchinson: Meaning and Context in ‘The Lottery.’” Essays in Literature, vol. 15, no. 2, Fall 1988, pp. 259-65. EbscoHost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=hgh&AN=24389 73&site=edu-live&scope=site.

Robinson, Michael. “Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’ and Holocaust Literature.” Humanities, vol. 8, no. 1, 2019, p. 35., doi:10.3390/h8010035. Shields, Patrick J. “Arbitrary Condemnation and Sanctioned Violence in Shirley Jackson’s ‘the Lottery.’” Contemporary Justice Review, vol. 7, no. 4, 2004, pp. 411–419., doi:10.1080/1028258042000305884....