Essay about The Illusion of Tradition in Jacksons The...

The Illusion of Tradition There is a Lottery going on today and we all hold a ticket. In â€Å"The Lottery† Shirley Jackson is asking people to stop for a moment and take a look at the traditions around them. Shirley Jackson uses symbolism to show that traditions today are sometimes as misguided as the tradition of the lottery in that small town in Somewhere, USA. Evil can be evoked in the most kind-hearted person if tradition deems it ok. Though the years there have been many wars in which many men have fought, and killed. If not put in a war torn environment the men in those wars would never have killed anyone. School children continually bully each other, sometimes to the point of serious injury. Otherwise kind, loving children,†¦show more content†¦The lottery could have served some purpose that no longer needs serving. A perfect example is a game played by school children called pass-it-on. A message is whispered in one child’s ear, and then whispered to the next child and the next and so on, by the time it gets to the last child the message is completely different from what the first child heard. Other religious examples show that we blindly carry on tradition. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ to the Virgin Mary, but in the capitalist market of the United States of America, Christmas has become a holiday for the greedy. Today Christmas is a day of getting gifts in most families. The spirit of Christmas is lost in the getting and giving of gifts, lost in Santa Clause and the reindeer. There is not a second thought as to why we hold a celebration every December. Jesus Christ is the furthest thing from the minds of children as they open there new Barbie or Monster truck Christmas morning. Easter is another Holiday that has lost its meaning. The celebration of the death of Christ has become laden with Pagan symbols that celebrate the coming of spring, such as the Easter Bunny, egg hunts, and flowers of spring. Jackson wants us to take a closer look at our traditions and, if nothing else, find some meaning in them. â€Å"The Lottery†Show MoreRelatedThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson1438 Words   |  6 PagesWriter Shirley Jackson was born in 1916 in San Francisco, California. Among her early works was The Lottery.Do not be fooled by this name.The Lottery was the highly controversial and famous tale about a village that partakes in an annual death ritual. On June 26, 1948, subscribers to The New Yorker received a new issue of the magazine in the mail. There was nothing to outwardly indicate that it would be any different, or any more special, than any other issue. But inside was a story that editorsRead MoreThe Lottery Literary Analysis1538 Words   |  7 Pagesday; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green† (Jackson). In this first sentence of the The Lottery Shirley Jackson establishes a pleasant illusion, creating a sense of serenity. Jackson proceeds to mention that children begin to gather in the village, frolicing and conversing about school. The initial scene and satirically labeled title, The Lottery, provide a somewhat satisfying first impression to the reader. The introductory scene is eminent to intentionally implementRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Lottery By Shirley Jackson844 Words   |  4 PagesThe Response Essay on  «The lottery » What is the difference between superstitions and traditions?  «The lottery » by Shirley Jackson provides a good example of how people’s superstitions from a tiny town affect those traditions. This story shows the dark side of Humanity. The whole community entrusts their lifes to a small black box. The allegory can confuse you, because the main purpose of the lottery kills one of the citizens for a strange false belief. To my mind, the author tried to explain whyRead MoreThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson850 Words   |  4 Pagessuperstitions and traditions?  «The lottery » by Shirley Jackson provides a good example how superstitions of people from a tiny town affect on those traditions. This story shows dark side of Humanity. Whole community entrusts their life with a small black box. The allegory can confuse you, because the main purpose of the  «lottery » is kill one of the citizens for a strange false belief. To my mind, the author tried to explain why new genera tion sometimes shouldn’t continue the weird and cruel traditions.  «TheRead MoreMy Opinion On Teaching Style Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pagesworld building and setting The Other Side of the Hedge is definitely a strong contender. Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery is definitely a supreme choice for this unit. The setting of rural America is not one that we have taken a look at in my previous book choices and this one is a prime choice for a pseudo-Naturalist view. The Lottery also has strong symbolism pertaining to being blinded by old traditions which is not something we have explored yet. The last short story picked is For Esme with Love and