The short story “The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson, illustrates to the reader a society that heavily relies on the tradition it was established upon, even though the tradition is barbaric and senseless. Shirley Jackson illustrates to the reader how this barbaric tradition occurs by utilizing a third-person omnificent narrative, which also gives the reader insight into the history of the tradition and how societies understanding of it has changed due to the progression of time. Shirley Jackson also utilizes imagery to display to the reader how the tradition of this society has aged and how its relevance has diminished as time passed. Using these methods of storytelling, and various others, Shirley Jackson highlights how we as a society should be critical when examining the validity of past traditions and customs that we have established.
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The tradition present within this story referred to as “The Lottery,” involves a small town and the assembly of all its inhabitants to draw slips of paper from an ancient box passed on from one generation to the next. This process is organized to occur by family, where the male of the household selects a slip of paper from the box until one individual draws a paper slip which contains a black
The tradition present within this story referred to as “The Lottery,” involves a small town and the assembly of all its inhabitants to draw slips of paper from an ancient box passed on from one generation to the next. This process is organized to occur by family, where the male of the household selects a slip of paper from the box until one individual draws a paper slip which contains a black