The Value Of Traditions In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Traditions have been passed down in many households for generations. One family begins the routine, unbeknownst of the devotion to come. Driven by the urge to please and feel closer to their elders, these traditions continue. But if there is no clear purpose, it is more difficult to keep the value known and respected. This is shown in Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’. The story is set in a dystopian land, where villages participate in lotteries. However, instead of money, the winner is made the target of a stoning, performed by their peers.Throughout the story, she uses elaborate description, repetition and vivid diction to expand on the theme that without a reason to uphold it, the value of tradition is lost upon each new generation.

One of the first preparations for the lottery is the procedure of collecting stones. Jackson uses description to convey the characters actions. One of the boys, “... eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys”(1). This line shows that the boys don’t care about the worth of the stones in the ritual (they want to have fun). Along with this you learn how the parents and other adults aren’t trying to stop the boys from playing with the stones. They are more
Old Man Warner is the oldest man in the town, and proud of it. When it is his turn to take a lottery ticket, he announces, “Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery… Seventy-seventh time”(Jackson 4). From his boasting, he obviously enjoys the lottery, because he becomes even more of a spectacle each time he passes without winning. Because they are one of the towns with lotteries, old age is idolized, because it means that the senior has made it through lottery after lottery, and are therefore very lucky. The townsfolk even use the title “Old Man”, as a reminder of his