Themes of the Lottery

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The Lottery
The major themes in the Lottery 1. The blind acceptance of tradition//the danger of conforming to tradition ; and fear a. Atmosphere and setting: The opening scene of the story contrasts with the ironic ending and the sober people gathering in the square, which reveals the slow decay of ethics owing to the ridiculous and shallow rituals followed by the sight-sighted villagers. Readers are led to believe the lottery is merely an innocuous and pleasant ritual, happening in early summer, when" the morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day" whereby it creates a peaceful and tranquil mood; but simultaneously, suspense is building up, as villagers are subdued, and they" stood together, away from the stones in the corner, their jokes are quite and they smiled rather than laugh"; the children are "gathered around quietly". Jackson even darkens the tone by describing the villagers are actually anxious and awaiting the result of the lottery “nervously” and “hastily”. It hints that they fear the tradition but they dare not speak openly of the disgust and hatred they feel. The writer deliberately strikes up the powerful contrast to emphasize even all the followers of the lottery fears the traditions, no one dares to change or abolish it; they follow this old practice senselessly and blindly just because “there have always been a lottery”. b. Description and foreshadowing Detailed and meticulous details are found in the exposition of the story; the ridiculousness and the ruthlessness of the lottery are stressed by the ironic names of Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, as well as thoughtful, fine details given by the author. For instance, the children are gathering stones and some of them even "stuffed his pocket full of stones". This shows the younger generations' mind
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