Introduction
Residents of the American town gathered for the annual lottery, and as with any other venerable tradition, attitudes toward it vary depending on age. The older men cannot imagine the life of the community without it. Still, the youngers are more skeptical, and they take it without reverence. The ritual black box for mixing lottery pieces became shabby with time, and citizens will not be bothered with placing it in a random dark closet after the lottery. The event is organized by a pity-causing man who is stuck in an unhappy childless marriage. The story of Shirley Jackson, who provoked society in the forties of the last century, became a kind of accusatory revelation.
Main body
The writer called her short story Lottery, and the meaning in it boils down to the fact that the rally is held in an abstract town, and all residents gather there. From their conversations, it becomes clear that the lottery is a long tradition that is held every year. The tradition was canceled in some neighboring towns, but citizens consider that eliminating old traditions is a stupid thing. A representative of each of the families comes up and takes the ticket out of the box, and then all townspeople open them together. The ticket of one of the women wins, and she becomes nervous and scared, and then the crowd takes up stones. Only at the end of the story, it becomes clear that the prize in the lottery was not money at all, and the terrible win was stoning. A horrific ritual is presented in the lottery, which deprives the inhabitants of humanity and discards them years ago, during the time of sacrifice.
In this story, the author builds her attitude towards the townspeople and the ritual based on contrasts. For example, the text describes the inhabitants of a small town, each of them is happy with the lottery, they are all excited about the lottery, and for them, such an event is a holiday for which the whole town gathers annually. Still, Jackson reveals the dark side of the city using symbols. For example, the author signs that “all the accessories for the lottery were long lost, and the box itself was older than the oldest person in the town.” Nevertheless, people did not want to change this box as a tribute to traditions. The adherence to traditions has become so ingrained in the mentality of the inhabitants that it began to affect their humanity and attitude towards each other.
The story also presents a conversation between older people who condemn the young generation, which refuses to participate in the lottery and cancels it in some cities. In this case, a vague reference to the sacrifices that took place hundreds of years ago can be discovered. People sacrificed the chosen human so that they have a harvest and prosperity. So here, the old man says “the lottery in the summer, and the corn is ripening.” The author emphasizes that initially, people had a basis for their cruel ritual since they were uneducated and believed that spilled blood would help them in agriculture. However, over time, the meaning of the ceremony has been lost, and people continued their inhuman lottery as a tribute to tradition.
Even though in the first part of the story, the people participating in the lottery are excited about the upcoming action and communicate with each other, discussing everyday problems and situations, as soon as the winner is found out, the attitude of citizens towards each other changes. For example, Mr. Summers, the person who conducted the lottery, starts to speak with the family, from which the victim will be chosen “in an official tone.” Moreover, the woman who was selected in the end, Tessie Hutchinson, substitutes her daughter. When the lottery manager acknowledges how many Hutcherson will participate in the last stage, she insists that the daughter should also join them, and not her husband’s family. Thus, it can be seen that the mother loses her normal feelings and kind attitude towards her children if such a manner helps her reduce the likelihood of being selected in the lottery.
One of the most heartless and harmful facts about this lottery is the participation of young children. The Hutcherson’s youngest son, Harry, cannot independently hold a piece of paper so as not to reveal it, and the girl, Nancy, is only 12 years old. However, senior citizens quietly observe the practice of ritual rules and encourage the participation of children. Fortunately, the children and the younger generation are not happy with such a situation, and they even say “if only not Nancy,” when the girl goes out for her ticket.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it may be stated that the author reveals an undeniably terrible ritual that is preserved only thanks to traditions. Unfortunately, even young people adhere to this tradition over time, as the pressure of senior citizens makes them change their minds. Thus, residents lose their humanity and reasonable attitude to each other, and they do not even try to find out the roots of this ritual and blindly follow it. Jackson wrote a stunning contrast between the ordinary and usual quiet life of the village and the shocking tradition, which, however, by force of habit, takes its place. She attempts to convey to the reader that adherence to traditions is not always a blessing and that sometimes one should abandon familiar rituals for the benefit of a new and bright future.
References
Jackson, S. (2007). The Lottery (Tale Blazers: American Literature). Perfection Learning.