"The Lottery"
The one lottery you don't want to win.
Theme:
The reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices.
ThesIs Statement
In the vexed short story, The Lottery, author Shirley Jackson transfers a warning to the reader of the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices.
Some Of Our Main Characters.
Tessie
The women who won the lottery.
Mr.Summers
The conductor of the lottery.
Old Man Warner
The oldest man in town.
Text Evidence #1
In the passage it says, " There had been,also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box, but this also had changed with time...." (Jackson 2)
You can infer that the lottery in this town's village has been something they've been doing for a long time now, so its become a routine for them every year now.
Text Evidence #2
On page three, Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner about how in some villages they're talking about giving up the lottery, and Old Man Warner calls them a pack of crazy fools, and says that there's nothing but trouble in that.
Since Old Man Warner is the oldest man in town he is accustomed to doing the lottery for many years now so he finds the lottery as tradition and he feels that it should keep being passed down from generation to generation.
Text Evidence #3
" The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "i hope it's not Nancy," and the sound of the whisper reached the edges of the crowd."it's not the way it used to be." Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain't the way they used to be." (Jackson 5)
In this part of the passage the Old Man Warner says that people aren't the way they used to be, the lottery is an outdated practice and years before when the lottery took place people used to keep their mouth shut and just go with the flow and now they're very opinionated. That is what Old Man Warner meant when he said that people weren't the way they used to be.
In Summary:
In the vexed short story, The Lottery, author Shirley Jackson transfers a warning to the reader of the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. Even though some things have changed due to doing The Lottery these towns villagers refuse to let go of the ritual.