The Lottery Comparison of Tradition

Margargont Urquhart Professor Daniels ENC1102 15 March 2013 An Outrageous Tale Standing in line for hours, impatiently waiting for the front doors of our favorite stores to open, to be virtually trampled upon for discounted items, is a usance we, as Ameri dissolves, like to call fatal Friday. Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, practically regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. To get people in the spirit, nigh major retailers open before the sun comes up and offers promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season.Americans consider acquiring in the spirit, by waking at the crack of dawn to pry items knocked out(p) of other peoples hands while at the corresponding time getting pushed and shoved by crazy amounts of people on the same hunt. We call a impost a belief or demeanour passed down within a group or society with symbolical meaning or special significance that has origin from the past. Black Friday i s the 1 customs duty that I thought was the worst until reading The draught, by Shirley capital of Mississippi. Jackson uses irony to suggest an underlying evil, hypocrisy, and weakness of human kind.Jackson appearings many historic lessons active human nature in this short story including cruel traditions in a supposedly civilized village, the communitys hypocrisy, and how delirium and cruelty take place. The draftsmanship tells the story of an annual tradition in a small village, where the people are close and tradition is paramount. The Lottery is a yearly event in which ane person in the township is randomly chosen, by a drawing, to be violently kill by friends and family.The villagers dont really recognize much about the lotterys origin but try to preserve the tradition nevertheless they believed that someone had to be sacrificed to insure a good crop. Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon, said Old human Warner. The villagers allow an outdated tradition to run the ir lives and control whether they live or die. The black stripe symbolizes death the name of the winner to be hopped-up is drawn from the box at every lottery, it represents tradition in the occurrence that it is gaga and worn.It has been in existence on the face of it forever and though at that place is talk of replacing it, the reader can infer that there ordain be no such change. The villagers are aware that the sacrifice is bestial but none want to stand and voice their opinion because they are afraid of how it may affect their lives. The lottery has been practiced in this town for such a long time that it makes tradition so powerful, its like a force of nature, and the people of the village cant imagine rebelling against it.The black box represents tradition in aspects to it being old the characters mention that they did non want to get rid of the old box because it was made of splinters of the original box. The town is so focused on how things were and how things have al focusings been that they cannot see any new or alter ways of living. Nevertheless, the lottery continues simply because there has always been a lottery. In The Lottery, the idea of hypocrisy is seen throughout the story. This theme is evident by the tradition of the lottery itself as well as the characters actions.The theme of hypocrisy is ofttimes attached to the idea of religion. Mr. Adams questions the traditions of the lottery and Mr. Summers says, Theres always been a lottery, and that it would be nothing but trouble. With these statements I feel that this tradition has been or so for such a long time that if they were to get rid of it, in return it would turn the town upside down and the villagers wouldnt know how to react to not having it. They keep the tradition alive yet they make out nothing but trouble in determining who dies. The character Mrs. Hutchinsons best friend, Mrs.Delacroix, is one of the first to casually discuss the lottery and in contrast she is the fi rst to pick up a rock to pit her so called friend. Jacksons use of such a tradition and these everyday characters demonstrates how hypocritical we are in society and is cautioning readers to questions those ideas set in stone. Shirley Jackson shows us that hysteria is a part of human nature, and that it can be disguised in many ways. The setting of the story is seemingly civilized and peaceful, while the stoning is a cruel and brutal act. This shows us that horrifying acts of violence can take place anywhere at any time, by ordinary citizens.Violence and cruelty are a major theme because we do not live in a hone world where nothing bad ever goes wrong there is violence and cruelty all around us. We see human cruelty in its worst form because there is no excuse for it. Jacksons example illustrates how existence can become a victim to its own mindless traditions. For example, one child in the story was depicted this way Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets unspoiled of st ones, and the other boys soon followed his example. (Jackson 194) This quote shows how people are mindless chase just because everyone else is doing it.This strange tale is twisted in ways that show us so much about human nature and the way we are in society. The themes that are unraveled throughout the story are shocking, dogma us about human nature on a divers(prenominal) level. People live by the term, If everyone else is doing it, then I should too. This shows how even though the tradition has been going on for so long, no one really knows when it originated they only continue it because its the tradition of the town. The violence and cruelty that comes into act upon is brutal in the sense that Mrs.Hutchinsons friends were the first to stone her and not have any problem with it, which shows the hypocrisy of human beings. The people of the town disguise the evil tradition of the lottery by following orders without asking any questions. Getting pushed and shoved in line for long hours for an item is a tradition that we should not have in America anymore, but clam up do because everyone does it. In the same sense, dying is drastically worse than getting pushed and shoved they cant stop the tradition of The Lottery because its what everyone in town does.