The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Text|Response| Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded, Mr. Summers had been successful in having slips of paper substituted for the chips of wood that had been used for generations. The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. ...; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.|Both of these text from the short story, give me an idea of how long this Lottery event has been taking place in this town. They both show me that this has been a tradition with rituals by the old Black Box as well as describing Old Man Warner as “the oldest man in town”.
However, the habitual acceptance of the lottery has made ritual homicide a part of the community lore. When murmurs about change begin to drift through the town, the superstitious voice of Old Man Warner makes the townspeople fear that their whole way of life would fall apart without this grisly drawing. The random elements of society violence also appear as a theme in "The Lottery." There is no reason for Tessie Hutchinson to die other than that she happened to draw the wrong slip of paper. However, once that took place, she stopped being a member of the community.
In this story, the towns people potrayed just that: weakness against change. There were many reasons for this falter, and in this particular situation: the older generation was stagnant when it came to breaking the unlawful tradition. The reason the town followed the tradition was for no other reason than it was what they had always known. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, said “There’s always been a lottery”(2). When Mrs. Adams said “some places have already quit lotteries”(2), Old Man Warner responded by saying “nothing but trouble in that… Pack of young fools”(2).
Murderer or hero? My fate hangs on the edge of this razor blade.”(Tellez346). If he had killed the captain, the barber would have to flee town to avoid getting caught, and this would cost him his most valued passion—being a barber. Maida asked her Uncle Nathan if he had a choice and he would always say I wanted both. This clearly shows Nathans lack of decision making skills which lead to his incomplete life.
Cooperjames from “The beacon” and Mr. Summers from “The Lottery”, who are both are responsible for keeping the tradition alive, and executing most of the activities of the ritual, there is a particular difference between the two stories in terms of how the rituals could be morally criticized by the viewer and lector respectively. In “The Beacon” the character of Dr. Barrows who is an outsider and not a member of the village, strongly objects and ever interferes with the beacons will by curing the chosen little girl who was supposed to die, with that happened the villagers decided to carry on with the ritual and kill Dr. Barrows in place of the little girl. On the other hand, in “The Lottery”, it is one of the village member Mrs. Hutchinson who tries to avoid the ceremony by forgetting the date and then arriving late to the event with a suspicious attitude of excusing herself, and even after her family draws the black dot she continuously showed signs of disagreement by saying “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” and she continues to argue the unfairness of the ceremony, but she doesn’t do anything about it and accepts that’s the way the ritual has always been and she is stoned.
Quote Analysis for The Crucible by Arthur Miller “Parris: …Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do you understand that I have many enemies?”(Miller 1.8). Parris has just learned that his daughter and niece have been involved in the summoning of spirits. Instead of worrying about their reputation as the participants, he immediately worries about his own name. This immediately shows that Parris is not the Godly character he is set up to be by the town and foreshadows that he is a corrupt leader in the village and that he will eventually be an antagonist.
La`Michael Boles English 101 Leah Halliday Little Black Box In the story “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, the people of the town believed in holding a lottery every year. They picked one name and then the winner would be killed. They held on to an old black box which they all knew they needed to get rid of, but didn’t. The black box in “The Lottery” represented old traditions, loyalty, and lack of knowledge. The black box represented old traditions in the community.
Although the three texts go about different ways, reasons, and potential gain by exacting revenge it is very clear through each story that it is never the best answer. Within the story of the "Spanish Roulette", the crisis is made very clear when Sixto's sister is raped by the gang member and no justice has been brought about for said crime. The sense of injustice is far too much for Sixto to bare as he takes it upon himself to kill his sister's attacker with a six
Brooks contrasts a strong feminist theme and positions us to see their heroic gestures to the weaknesses of men as the villagers are faced with great tragedies. Joss Bont is one of the villains of the plague year. Brooks positions us to see that Joss views the tragedy merely as an opportunity, and his extreme greed and insensitivity know no bounds. His exploitation of the dying and their families makes us see that Anna is glad she no longer shares a last name with him. When Bont adds attempted murder to his other crimes, the demoralized village finally calls him to account.
As the antagonist of this story, the villagers’ show the danger of following tradition with questioning their origin or purpose. The processes leading up to the lottery that are described in this short story are relatively detailed in comparison to the small amount of information provided as to why it ever began. The lottery has been occurring for at least 77 years and in not just in this town, but other surrounding ones. The closest explanation as to why the lottery began is the mention, ”Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (220). This suggests that the process and sacrifice of the lottery may lead to a bountiful agricultural harvest.