A reoccurring theme in “The Lottery” is the hazards of blindly following tradition. Each year this village converges to celebrate the lottery. This ritual is blindly followed and the denizens prepare for this tradition and seem as if it's innocuous. This type of lottery contains slips of paper that …show more content…
The ebony box represents many things, including the tradition of the lottery and the villager’s illogic staunchness to it. This same box has been utilized for many years and needs to be superseded, but the villagers are reluctant. The villagers share the annexation on just a story. No one wants to deviate from the mundane tradition yet they commenced utilizing paper slips in lieu of the woodchips. The villagers want to be staunch to the box but are disloyal to other relics. This proves that there is no logical reason why they should perpetuate to hold to lottery. The lottery is in itself a symbolism of conceptions that have been passed down from generation to generation and accepted unquestioningly. The lottery is tradition that no one has thought to question. The lottery comes with a verbal expression “Lottery in June, corn be heftily ponderous anon.” The allegiance to the lottery is something that will never transmute. The lottery perpetuates because no one has yet to question it. This is an example of the most extreme consequences of when traditions aren’t queried by incipient generations.
In conclusion, through the utilization of theme, characterization, and symbolism Shirley Jackson utilizes these literary contrivances to show the readers the troubles of blindly following traditions. Blindly following traditions could lead to having troubling traditions for generations on forward and the reason why everyone should