The Lottery
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson one learns that tradition is important. There are several supported examples throughout the story including: The timing and date of the lottery, the officiator of the lottery, and lastly, what the lottery represents to this micro society of “their village”.Shirley Jackson has made tradition not the central but certainly a prevalent theme in this short story written originally for the New Yorker in 1948. While it is easy to see why some traditions are easy to carry on such as holidays and special occasions like anniversaries or birthdays; as a reader you struggle with why, this particular barbaric tradition has been preserved and even institutionalized by the villagers. The lottery is held the same time every year on June 27. While the same date, may seem a small thing and relatively benign, this particular date does have significance to the lottery and the tradition. As we learn the date is important to the season of harvesting crops. Old man Warner ties this thread for us when he talks of days gone by where the “saying” was “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. Were the timing of the lottery mid winter, say in January, the same reference could not be
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Fourth July, Lottery June, Shirley Jackson, Pearl Harbor, Lastly Summers, Japanese Americans, shirley jackson, lottery shirley jackson, black spots, lottery shirley, civic events, event summers, Lottery Shirley,
Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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