Tradition v.s Common Sense
Traditions over Common Sense
Francisco Montanez
English 1302
Professor Duncan
April 24, 2014
Francisco Montanez
Professor Duncan
English 1302
24 April 2014
Traditions over Common Sense Traditions are a very important aspect of human life. They are seen as another way of life. Many traditions teach things of value to children, things which parents hope will be passed on to future generations. In many societies however, traditions have taken over the common sense of the people. Nowadays, humans blindly follow traditions, not knowing or even acknowledging what they are really doing. Whether it is a celebratory tradition or a tradition that has been followed since ancient times, humans will not question the motives behind it; they will just continue to follow it. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, villagers blindly follow their annual tradition, one that claims a life every year. All the villagers take part in this event knowing that there will be death yet no one dares to stop and question it. Even when some people do stop and question the reasons that began the tradition, they will not do anything about it because it is a tradition that has been followed countlessly and they do not want to be the only ones to question it or even worse, not follow it. This shows that human beings will tolerate acts of evil and injustices in traditions, making them unable to step out of that circle and see what is really going on because of their preference of tradition over common sense. It does not matter if the tradition consists of bloodshed or even death; humans will continue to blindly follow tradition. Traditions have been around for thousands of years, even before civilized human life began. They have been performed all over the world, in all points of time. In the overview by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, it is explained that ancient cultures believed sacrifices were necessary to benefit the community. In fact,
Francisco Montanez
English 1302
Professor Duncan
April 24, 2014
Francisco Montanez
Professor Duncan
English 1302
24 April 2014
Traditions over Common Sense Traditions are a very important aspect of human life. They are seen as another way of life. Many traditions teach things of value to children, things which parents hope will be passed on to future generations. In many societies however, traditions have taken over the common sense of the people. Nowadays, humans blindly follow traditions, not knowing or even acknowledging what they are really doing. Whether it is a celebratory tradition or a tradition that has been followed since ancient times, humans will not question the motives behind it; they will just continue to follow it. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, villagers blindly follow their annual tradition, one that claims a life every year. All the villagers take part in this event knowing that there will be death yet no one dares to stop and question it. Even when some people do stop and question the reasons that began the tradition, they will not do anything about it because it is a tradition that has been followed countlessly and they do not want to be the only ones to question it or even worse, not follow it. This shows that human beings will tolerate acts of evil and injustices in traditions, making them unable to step out of that circle and see what is really going on because of their preference of tradition over common sense. It does not matter if the tradition consists of bloodshed or even death; humans will continue to blindly follow tradition. Traditions have been around for thousands of years, even before civilized human life began. They have been performed all over the world, in all points of time. In the overview by Joyce Moss and George Wilson, it is explained that ancient cultures believed sacrifices were necessary to benefit the community. In fact,
Cited: "Analysis of the Tradition in Shirley Jackson 's "The Lottery"." StudyMode.com. StudyMode.com, 2008 Friedman, Lenemaja. Shirley Jackson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1975. Print. Hicks, Jennifer. "Overview of the Lottery." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. World War II to the Affluent Fifties (1940-1950s). Detroit: Gale, 1997. Literature Resource Center