Every year in southern India more than 200 babies are tossed from a 50 foot concrete temple onto a cloth held below while crowds sing and dance. This 500 year old ritual is believed to make the child stronger and bring them good luck (vagabonish.
com). Hazing rituals have been firmly entrenched in American colleges for over a century. Anti-hazing laws exist in forty-four states, yet tragically the lives of many young promising students are still damaged and destroyed in the name of tradition (StopHazing. org).Bizarre and irrational rituals challenge the morale of cultures all over the world. Many followed traditions are harmless, such as turkey on Thanksgiving or a quinceanera rite of passage, but others can be dangerous when followed blindly.
Society universally rationalizes risky tradition like a superstition – afraid if the practice ceases, consequence may follow. In her short story “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses a town’s rituals and its normal small town life to demonstrate how any person has the capacity to be violent and dangerous when following mindless traditions.Shirley Jackson’s use of symbolism gives more than a casual nod to religion. Old Man Warner quotes “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (Jackson par.
32). The saying means one will sacrifice for the good of all, much like Christ dying for the world’s sins. Acceptance of the tradition to sacrifice a human being is supported by the three-legged stool representing the Holy trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The three-legged stool supports the infamous black box.
Determining the mortal fate of one unlucky winner, the box is an inanimate manifestation of Death.Cloaked in black, its purpose is to cause a grim finale. Though deteriorating and falling apart “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson par. 5). Its color and condition illustrate how highly regarded the tradition is, and perhaps fear of disturbing its legacy.
Jackson alludes to the Gospel of St. John when Jesus frees an adulterous woman. Jesus proclaims to the condemning crowd “He who is without sin, cast the first stone” (John 8:7), and every person left the crowd one by one.Contrastingly, this village acts together reinforcing the point that the antagonist is not one person, but the society collectively. “The Lottery” takes place annually on June 27th at 10 o’clock in the morning.
Jackson cunningly describes the setting as “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson par. 1). The use of warm and colorful imagery contributes to the reader’s impression that a happy event is going to take place.The ironic title of the short story itself suggests that someone will win a prize. Children are playing, women are gossiping, and men are talking about “planting and rain, tractors and taxes” (Jackson par. 3).
The casualness of conversation and playfulness of the children imply a normal, civilized little town. Jackson’s use of subtle details leads the reader to consider the town to be peculiar. She points out there is a post office, bank, school, and coal business, but there is no church – a staple landmark in a small town.Moreover, religious holidays such as Easter and Christmas are not among the celebrated “square dances, the teenage club, the Halloween program” (Jackson par. 4). It isn’t until the end of the story that the reader discovers the drawing is not for a grand prize in the traditional sense.
Instead, the winner of the lottery will be horrifically stoned to death by their friends, family and neighbors. Children are introduced to tradition at an early age – long before reasoning can occur. The boys “made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys” (Jackson par. ).
The lottery is nothing more than a game to the children, thus perpetuating the seemingly pointless tradition for the next generation. The adults point out that the north village has given up the lottery, but they do not express a desire to quit their own. Though the origin of the lottery is oblivious to the community, it remains an important thread of the town fabric. Tessie Hutchinson conventionally makes breakfast for her family, washes dishes, and then carries her little boy down to the square – making playful small-talk with Mr. Summers.
Then, she participates in the annual slaughter. Her protest “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson par. 79) is declared when she draws the winning ticket… it’s personal. She would have been satisfied as the attacker had someone else won the lottery. There is no compassion exhibited for Tessie. Her close friend Mrs.
Delacroix encouragingly tells her to “Be a good sport” (Jackson par. 46), then “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (Jackson par. 74). Her children laugh and beam with joy as they show their unmarked slips of paper to the crowd.Children, above all, join the barbaric ritual as “someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” (Jackson par. 76) to throw at his mother.
Shirley Jackson shows how tradition can be intensely dangerous even in an ordinary society. She raises important concern about the viral spread of harmful rituals from generation to generation, and the unquestioned acceptance of cruelty. She is successful in her purpose “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Kennedy and Gioio pg. 247).Works Citedhttp://www.vagabondish.com/8-bizarre-rituals-world/
