The Power of Tradition Theme Analysis in The Lottery

đź“ŚCategory: Literature
đź“ŚWords: 1520
đź“ŚPages: 6
đź“ŚPublished: 21 March 2022

Would you participate in an event where you draw for your fate because in “The Lottery,” that is exactly what the villagers are doing? The lottery is generally a very exciting and good thing but in Shirley Jackson’s version of the lottery, it is the complete opposite. The villagers in the town of about 300 people participate in the tradition of the lottery where they draw a piece of paper out of the black box to determine the winner of the lottery, which is the sacrifice for the year. The winner is then stoned to death by the whole town for a good harvest to come. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses the third person point of view, imagery of the black box, symbolism, foreshadowing of the stones, and irony of the lottery to achieve her message that tradition should not always be intuitively followed because generations have done it in the past. 

Firstly, the short story, “The Lottery,” is written in the third person objective point of view. Jackson writes the story in the third person, to have the readers focus on what’s going on in the lottery, not the characters in the story. A story written in the first-person point of view would have a completely different feel since the reader would be more aware of how the characters are feeling in the lottery. Because it’s written objectively in the third person it is unable to convey the emotions of the characters. After all, the main theme of this story is about how the villagers follow tradition intuitively so having it in the third person objective point of view shows the events and the villagers’ participation in the lottery. 

The beginning of “The Lottery” starts with a pleasant and peaceful setting but later in the story, it turns into an unpleasant day. Jackson starts off the story by saying, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of the full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely, and the grass was richly green” (1). The narrator of the story starts off the short story by setting the mood that it is a beautiful summer day to have the lottery. Making the reader feel as if the lottery is a good thing for the town but in reality, June 27, is the worst day for villagers because one of them will be the sacrifice for the year. The imagery of June 27 being a nice day is the opposite of what is to come in the lottery. Jackson also uses imagery to describe the black box. In the short story, it describes the black box by saying, “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (2). Jackson gives the reader a very descriptive explanation of the box to allow the reader to see how important the box is to the story. It shows that the box is very important, and the reader should pay attention to the black box. The black box is important because while the original equipment of the lottery has been lost this was one of the oldest traditions using the black box to draw the lottery. The black box has been used longer than the oldest man in the village, Old Man Warner. This shows that tradition is very sacred to the village because Mr. Summers, the host of the lottery, wants to find a new box, but the villagers don’t want to cut tradition. This shows that the village follows tradition even if it is outdated.

Furthermore, Jackson uses symbolism throughout the story to demonstrate that the lottery is not a good event. Jackson makes references to the stones throughout the story when the stones are used to kill the lottery winner. The children before the lottery starts, pick up stones and place them into a pile, and stuff their pockets with the smoothest and roundest stones (1). Jackson also states, “The children had stones already. And someone even gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles” (7). The stones being used to kill the lottery at the end represent the stones as a symbol of the violence that the village is prepared to commit. In the end, the village throws the stones at Tessie Hutchinson, the lottery winner. Even Davy Hutchinson, Tessie’s son, throws the stones at his mother. While the town lost most of the rituals from the lottery, they still remembered to use stones to kill the lottery winner. In addition, the black box has a special meaning to the villagers. The box is old and falling apart, but the villagers don’t want to get rid of the box because it would upset the tradition. Jackson said the original equipment of the lottery was lost, but the black box was still in use, and it was older than Old Man Warner the oldest person in the town. Mr. Summer talks about making a new box, but the villagers don’t want to break tradition (1). The black box is an artifact that has been used for a very long time, so it’s important for the villagers to keep it. For the villagers, the black box symbolizes their long tradition of holding the lottery, and many generations before them have kept the rituals alive. The black box gives the villagers a meaning to do the lottery because this is how it was done before them. Also, the paper slip that indicates the lottery victim is marked only by a single black dot. Jackson says, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office” (7). The marked dot on the slip of paper symbolizes the marking of a person for death. While Mr. Summers made this mark the night before shows that it is made by a man that determines the fate of the lottery winner. By participating in the lottery tradition, the villagers give the marked slip of paper power over time, which is demonstrated by the fact that the marked slip of paper holds no power on its own. 

Jackson uses foreshadowing in the story to increase the tension in the lottery. The stones in the lottery were foreshadowed. In the short story, Jackson says, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed by his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix—the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”—eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys” (1). Jackson foreshadowed the stones by showing the children gathering the stones and stuffing their pockets and then at the end it shows the whole town throwing the stones at Tessie Hutchinson the lottery winner. It affects “The Lottery,” because it gives hints of what the stones are used for before the actual stoning occurs. Since it is unusual for boys to grab stones and randomly place them into a pile, the reader can conclude something bad is to come from the stones. The fact that Davy Hutchinson participates in the stoning of his mother shows that the sones play a significant role in the killing of the lottery winners. This is because they have been used to kill lottery winners since the beginning of the lottery. 

Lastly, Jackson’s short story is incredibly iconic. The beginning of the story starts by setting the mood for a pleasant day and the town getting ready for the lottery. Jackson explained in detail to the audience that Bill Hutchinson was shocked by looking down at the marked note to see that he had won the lottery. Then, Tessie Hutchinson gets very upset with Mr. Summers saying that her husband didn’t have enough time to pick the slip that he wanted (5). This scene from the story shows the reader that this is not an ordinary lottery because Bill’s wife is arguing that he didn’t have time to pick the slip he wanted when he won the lottery. It shows that there is irony in every aspect of the story, from the tile to the winner. Upon reading “The Lottery,” readers would think that this event is about the fortune and wealth of the lottery. However, once they read the story, they realize the true irony of it all. Jackson uses irony in the story to deceive the audience and make them assume a whole different meaning before reading the story. 

In conclusion, the lottery tradition that the villagers participate in each year is very outdated. Shirley Jackson conveys this by her use of literary devices in the story. With Jackson’s writing in the third person objective point of view, the reader focused on the lottery event itself to show how the villagers follow the tradition of the lottery. The imagery was also a big factor in the story by describing the black box to show that it was very important to the villagers in the tradition of the lottery. Jackson uses symbolism to show that the stones, black box, and marked slip of paper have a deeper meaning than just being an object. The stones symbolize the violence that the village will commit, the black box represents the tradition of the lottery, and the marked slip of paper indicates the marking the death of the lottery winner. From the title to the winner, Jackson demonstrates irony in every aspect of the lottery. Jackson intended to show that in the past, people did things differently, so following tradition does not always make sense.

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