The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Essay - 1202 Words

Grace Hopper said, â€Å"The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We’ve always done it this way.’† This quote comes to mind when reading â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson because of one of the themes in her story being traditions and following them blindly. There are three different characters that stand out in this story. The children, Old Man Warner and Tessie Hutchinson. Each one of them represent a different consequence that comes with following traditions blindly. The corruption of innocence, closed mindedness and being a lost cause. Right away in the beginning of the story, Jackson sets the scene by describing it as a beautiful day. â€Å"The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the†¦show more content†¦By showing this, I think that Jackson gets the point across of how we don’t stop to think of the long term consequences of our actions. Usually parents make decisions ba sed on what would be best for their child, yet in this story it doesn’t seem to matter since they are so willing to put them up to be killed if they had to. With this Jackson makes us question, how far are we willing to go to keep a tradition going? While reading the story you don t really get the impression that the lottery might actually be a bad thing until some of the people start talking about how other villages aren’t doing the lottery anymore. ’They do say, Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, that over in the north village they re talking of giving up the lottery.’†,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Some places have already quit lotteries. Mrs. Adams said.† After finishing the story, you obviously realize why they would end the tradition. But it was Old Man Warner’s response to the news that the tradition of the lottery was no longer being done in other villages, that was disturbing and further proves the dangers of following traditions blindly. â€Å"‘There s always been a lottery,’ he added petulantly† He says this as if it’s good enough reason to continue doing it. As he’s going up to get his slip of paper, he reveals he’s been in the lottery seventy seven times. Meaning he’s participated in killing seventy seven innocent people. Again all this for the sake of following a tradition.Show MoreRelatedEssay on The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: an Analysis1522 Words   |  7 PagesKouyialis EN102: Composition II Professor Eklund The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: An Analysis The short story â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948 and takes place in a small town, on the 27th of June. In this story, the lottery occurs every year, around the summer solstice. 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The introduction of â€Å"the lottery† is about an event that takes place every year on 27th in the month of June, where the community members of this tradition organize a lottery. Everyone in the village including small children to adults is expected to participate. Besides, when this story was introduced