Reference no: EM131606904

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story that talks about a small village following an old tradition blindly. Its audience of the New Yorker did not welcome this story in late 1940's, it was brutal, graphic, however honest and gutsy of her to publish such gruesome story.
Every year the families from the village gathered nervously, anxiously as they drew a paper from a black box. Everyone grew impatient and everyone was out for himself or herself, people turned on one another like savages.

The story takes place in a small town of member who are willing to conserve their traditions even though they didn't know where or when this originated, they had this blind faith or a desire to believe something is true. 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. This tradition is believed to bring more crops as gift for sacrificing a member of the village, although everyone presumes to follow this traditions once Mrs. Hutchinson's gets the black dot she get hysterical saying she was pressured into taking the paper.

Based on the events during WWII and the story it is believed that Shirley Jackson wrote this story to bring to light the gruesome truth about WWII and to also share how she Felt and isolated by others. In the way she wrote this story lead everyone to believe a family would win a lottery the reader assumes it's a happy ending until the end when everyone stones to death the member who gets the black dot for the sack of following traditions, even though they all don't know where this tradition originates and also talked about how other villages no longer practice this tradition. It also highlights how hypocrite Mrs. Hutchintson turned out to be, she was a willing participate to stone to death another member but when it turned out to be her she didn't like it.

This story resembled what we have experienced in past wars, what we have stud up to, and what we are going through today as a society. Often time's people take part of such cruelty for the sack of just following tradition, its no longer acceptable to stay in silence and keep our