Jiddu Krishnamurti once said that “Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay.” In the story, The Lottery, the minds of the townspeople have decayed and been programmed to their skewed traditions. The author, Shirley Jackson shows us this through various symbols to display an overall theme of tradition throughout the story. The story opens with the explaining of the day itself and the gathering of the townspeople for the lottery, We notice that the lottery has been held on numerous occasions because the author mentions that “The lottery was conducted–as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program–by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.” (Jackson, 1) The lottery is compared to innocent events such as dances and Halloween programs and it was an activity the whole town participated in.
The author then proceeds to talk about the black box. Explaining the appearance and history of this black box. The detail mentioned about the appearance of the black box is also important because it gives the reader insight into how long the town has been engaging in their “civic activities”. Here the author states that Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much as tradition as was represented by the black box.” (Jackson, 1) This makes it clear to the reader that the importance of the black box is so closely tied to tradition and none of the townspeople want to break the routine of tradition. Although here it is not revealed the nature of the lottery itself, the reader can still see the weight of how important tradition is to the town.
As mentioned in the beginning of the story, we notice that some of the kids are collecting of stones innocently. The reader does not know what the stones are used for until the end of the story. The suspense that is building at the end of the story as the townspeople participate in the ritual of the lottery without the reader not knowing exactly what the drawing entails is even more interesting. It is not till the end where the stones’ purpose is completely revealed to the reader in a dark twisted punishment or ritual the townspeople have engaged in for seventy-seventh year in a row. The usage of stones alludes to the ancientиtradition of stoning. It would be more easier to kill the townsperson chosen any other way bu the need to follow the tradition regardless of the morality of it is evident.
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Traditions can be more harmful than good and that’s evident in the short story, The Lottery. The mindsets of the townspeople in this story have been so heavily distorted that many of them don’t see the crime of stoning an innocent person to death. In relation, the author makes us look at some of our own traditions and rituals and even though they may no be as drastic as this short story but it might be immoral. Thus making us question the real reason we follow the traditions laid before us by past generations.
