The Lottery Essay, Research Paper
Merriam-Webster & # 8217 ; s online dictionary defines tradition as, an inherited,
established, or customary form of idea, action, or behaviour ( as a
spiritual pattern or a societal usage ) and the passing down of
information, beliefs, and imposts by word of oral cavity or by illustration from
one coevals to another without written direction. If we are to travel
by the latter definition, we can understand how traditions are easy
lost. Have you of all time played the game telephone? You whisper something in
person & # 8217 ; s ear and they whisper it in another person^s ear until it
eventually returns back to you and usually what is returned isn & # 8217 ; t even
near to what you originally whispered into the first individual & # 8217 ; s ear In
Shirley Jackson & # 8217 ; s short narrative, & # 8221 ; The Lottery & # 8221 ; , the chief subject is how
traditions that lose their significance due to human forgetfulness can do
awful effects to happen. Jackson uses a batch of symbolism to demo
this. The narrative is set in a little town, ^on the forenoon of June
27th^ ( 272 ) . It opens with false artlessness, utilizing the kids edifice
a stone heap, flim-flaming the reader into a disturbingly incognizant province.
The reader about expects the Lottery to be something fantastic since
the & # 8220 ; normal & # 8221 ; lottery has the victor acquiring a award of a big sum
of money or possesion. Even the narrative alludes to the artlessness,
explicating how the the town besides holds ^square dances, teenage nine and
the Halloween program^ ( 273 ) in the same topographic point that the lottery is held.
In & # 8220 ; the Lottery & # 8221 ; we discover that the town-folk usage a lottery, to pick
a & # 8220 ; winner & # 8221 ; to lapidate to decease. The victor is picked utilizing a black box
that has been around for ages, and has even been ^rebuilt with parts
purportedly from the original black box^ . ( 273 ) Within the box are faux pass
of paper, plenty for the full town. On one faux pas of paper is a black
point for the one lucky victor. Black has ever been a symbol for decease,
and the colour of the box and point are no exclusion to this regulation. One of
Merriam-Webster^s dictionary definitions of black is ^marked by the
occurance of disaster^ . The black point on the faux pas of paper
identifies the lucky victor of the lottery-the individual who will acquire
stoned to decease. No-one in town truly knows precisely why it is a
tradition although they have some obscure thoughts. Old Man Warner alludes
that it was one time said & # 8220 ; lottery in June, maize be heavy shortly & # 8221 ; . ( 276 )
Ironically, even the oldest member of this small town doesn^t even
retrieve the existent ground behind the lottery. Although ^The villagers
had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still
remembered to utilize rocks & # 8221 ; ( 278 ) . Do people merely pick and take which
portion of a tradition they want to maintain?
On the 8th paragraph of ^The Lottery^ , the character Tessie
Huchinson, comes hotfooting to the square because she ^clean forgot what
twenty-four hours it was^ ( 274 ) . This shows how easy a individual can bury things. It
besides alludes to the homicidal ritual when Tessie exclaims ^wouldn^t
hold me leave m^dishes in the sink^ . Why would anyone who is
take parting in a lottery have to worry about soiled dishes, unless the
award was something awful. Tessie appears to non take the ritual
earnestly, perchance because of the sum of people in the small town or
the fact she has been desensitized to the violent rite. It can be
assumed that Tessie doesn^t know really much about the history of the
tradi
tion because the adult male who is ^the functionary of the lottery^ , ( 274 )
Mr. Summers, doesn^t retrieve the history either.
Mr. Summers, the functionary of the lottery, doesn^t know that there is a
^perfunctory tuneless chant ^ ( 274 ) that he was supposed to sing during
the lottery or a ^ritual salute^ ( 274 ) that he was supposed to utilize when
turn toing each individual who came up to the black box. The nameless
villagers who remember some spots of history about those forgotten
facets of the ritual, aren^t even definite about the truth of
their beliefs. Some believe that the ^official of the lottery should
stand^ a certain manner when he sang the chant, other believe that he
should ^walk among the people^ ( 274 ) . No-one precisely remembers the hows
and wherefore of the tradition, most have become wholly desensitized to
the homicidal rites. In paragraph two, the kids are so
desensitized that they are really basking themselves while they are
roll uping stones as a sadistic award for the lottery^s victor. Although
they are really immature they remember some facets of the ritual. Bobby
Martin stuffs ^his pockets full of stones^ ( 272 ) as if it were money and
non a slaying arm. Three of the villagers kids ^eventually made
a great heap of rocks in one corner of the square and guarded it
against rids of the other boys.^ ( 272 ) The kids know that they are
supposed to utilize smooth unit of ammunition rocks to kill the victor but they do non
cognize why nor do they look to care. Because the grownups have forgotten
the traditions history, the kids know even less and they are
desensitized to slay, believing it^s merely another merriment vacation like
Christmas.
In modern times we can see a contemplation of ^The Lottery^ in Christmas.
Christmas was originally intended to observe the miracle of Christ^s
birth, but over clip Christmas has become more commercialised and
associated with heathen beliefs. Since many parents have forgotten the
true significance of Christmas, many kids misinterpret Christmas as a
^gimmie^ vacation instead so a vacation marking the virgin birth
of Jesus. We can non wholly fault this on human forgetfulness without
turn toing the issue of lip service. Peoples hear what they want to hear
and take what rites to maintain for traditions.
The townsfolk could hold changed the tradition or even investigated
the history of the tradition. They, the townsfolk, had an active function
in the slaying of Tessie and can non fault their actions on forgetfulness
but instead on lip service. When Mrs. Delacroix was choosing a ^stone so
big she had to pick it up with both hands^ , ( 278 ) she could hold
stopped and questioned the moralss of ^the Lottery.
Forgotten traditions can be highly unsafe as Shirley Jackson
points out in her short narrative. It, the lottery, could hold taken topographic point
in any little town across America. Any one of us can bury something
of import about a tradition that could finally take to dreadful
effects. The simple game of telephone proves that we are merely
like those townsfolks, burying the original words but go oning
on as if the words we know are the original.
Plants Cited
Jackson, Shirley ^ ? The Lottery^ ? The Bedford Guide for College Writers Bedord-St. Martins 1999
Jackson, Shirley ^ ? The Lottery^ ? Http: //www.bal.com/shorts/stories/lotry.html
Bibliography
^ ? The Lottery^ ? Dir. Daniel Sackheim 1996 ( Made for T.V. )
