The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

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“The Lottery” and its Outdated Traditions The story, “The Lottery” has many themes to it, all dealing with the corrupted practices of society. The story was written by Shirley Jackson in the year 1948. During this time, there was a lot of corruption and practices that were unjust. The themes that occur in this story are; people not rejecting outdated traditions and ideas, the evil ways of ordinary people, sacrifices for community sins and conformity. Jackson brings these practices to light and exposes them for what they really are.
The Lottery” is about a small town in which a lottery is held on every June 27th. It is a tradition that has been taking place for a many decades. The lottery is not the type of lottery held today, however, it is a lottery to ultimately sacrifice someone’s life. Shirley Jackson wrote this story to shock her audience. She wanted to show a tradition that is highly corrupted taking place in a small and what seems to be, a normal town. The word, “tradition” means inherited or established customs or actions, In the story, some townsmen are talking about other towns getting rid of their lottery. The Old Man Warner says, “Nothing but trouble in that, pack of young fools.”(Jackson) He is referring to the other villages that have abolished this tradition. He also states that it is the seventy-seventh time he has attended the lottery, as if to say it has been around for a long time and will continue to be around. The people of this village are committing a crime, much like murder, but it goes unnoticed because of its traditional background.
The story suggests that some people are not willing to change whether it’s for the better or not. No matter what the event may be, some people reject the change because the tradition has been going on for so long and it is all they are used to. This theme plays on the notion of “Well we have done it this

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