The Lottery
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines tradition as, an inherited,established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as areligious practice or a social custom) and the handing down ofinformation, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example fromone generation to another without written instruction. If we are to goby the latter definition , we can understand how traditions are easilylost. Have you ever played the game telephone? You whisper something insomeone's ear and they whisper it in another person^s ear until itfinally returns back to you and normally what is returned isn't evenclose to what you originally whispered into the first person's ear InShirley Jackson's short story ,"The Lottery" ,the main theme is howtraditions that lose their meaning due to human forgetfulness can causedreadful consequences to occur. Jackson uses a lot of symbolism to showthis. The story is set in a small town, ^on the morning of June27th^(272). It opens with false innocence , using the children buildinga rock pile, tricking the reader into a disturbingly unaware state.The reader almost expects the Lottery to be something wonderful sincethe "normal" lottery has the winner g
Due to her actions the reader now knows that she is going to be the one, but what is unknown is the prize. eventually made a great pile of stones in onecorner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys" (Text, 782). Why would anyone who isparticipating in a lottery have to worry about dirty dishes, unless theprize was something dreadful. Throughout the story the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents. Old Man Warner says, "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody" (Text, 786), thus indicating that the lottery was no joking matter. Hutchinson for she is obviously leaving. The unnamedvillagers who remember some bits of history about those forgottenaspects of the ritual, aren^t even definite about the accuracy oftheir beliefs. The first question we must ask is why are the boys piling stones up in the village square? At the very least we know that the stones will play an important role in the final outcome. The reader will not know what is about to happen until the very end of the story unless they have picked up on Jackson's strong use of foreshadowing. Shirley Jackson uses an abundance of foreshadowing which indicates, to a degree, what is about to happen to the winner of the lottery drawing. etting a prize of a large amountof money or possesion.
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Acceptance Essays
