...Young Goodman Brown and The Lottery The comparison and contrasts between The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (1948) and Young Goodman Brown, by Hawthorne (1835) in this essay takes on the topic of “blindly following traditions”(Jackson, 1948) and “the weakness of the public morality” (Hawthorne, 1835). While the entire society members are under the authority of Old Man Warner are employed in The Lottery, The character of Goodman Brown is employed to depict the theme. Young Goodman Brown, by Hawthorne (1835), “The Weakness of Public Morality” In this story, the author emphasizes how corruption is the result of the insistence on the Puritan society and is the cause of moral decline and the diminishment of personal faith. Goodman makes the decision to go to the forest to meet the devil however, he takes cover when he realizes that the minister and the Deacon Gookin because he was concerned with appearance even though they are also out there. Brown’s religious beliefs are strongly connected with the belief that all of his peers believe the same as he does. When Goodman recognizes that his peers including his father and grandfather shaped his religious beliefs made a deal with the devil, he...
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...“The Destructors” and “The Lottery” Fiction Essay Introduction Some may say that we are, as human beings, a violent people by nature. We see it in our own history of wars and genocide that the violence in us can grow to extreme proportions. These two stories, “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, show us that some of the violence can be brought on by people simply following blindly. Whether we look at the past or the present, these two short stories, show us the mob mentality can be very dangerous. The long dead tradition of “The Lottery” tells of the town people forgetting most of the different parts of the tradition because it takes too long, or is not feasible. The one part they never forgot was the violent murder of one of their own people because of an old tradition that sacrifices a scapegoat each year. In “The Destructors”, a grand home still standing in a war-torn England would never have been torn down by a gang of teens if they weren’t following blindly, the one person leading the group, and succumbing to peer pressure. This shows that all it takes is a single person, or an old tradition that can convince a group to commit unnecessary violence. Greene’s book “The Destructors”, and Jacksons “The Lottery”, both show pointless acts of violence brought on by an individual that has people following them or a group of people following a long dead tradition. These acts of senseless violence could have been avoided if...
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...Tradition can be a wonderful thing, it can bring entire social groups together with the potential of bettering their society. Tradition however can be a terrible thing at the same time, taking primitive thoughts and ideas, and turning them into harmful actions. When does tradition go too far? Is it when the people are killing off their loved ones based on the ideas of a leader whose only true power is arbitrary? Shirley Jackson showcases the danger of blindly following tradition through her book The Lottery, showing that danger is never perceived by those who follow it unconditionally. The Lottery at the beginning of the story appears as if nothing is wrong, children play, wives are gossiping and men are playfully joking on an average day...
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...The Lottery Today, there are many traditions that people take part in but have no idea why. It seems that whatever someone grows up seeing the people around them doing, they will do as well. For example: popping fireworks on New Year’s and July 4th, or trick-or-treating on Halloween. Most people don’t know why they do these things, it’s just tradition. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, it’s a tradition for the people to hold a lottery every year and most of them don’t even know why. From little kids on up to senior citizens, everyone in the village participates in the lottery. The lottery is where the 300 people living in the village gather together and everyone draws a slip of paper from a box. Whoever’s paper has a black dot in the center gets stoned to death by the rest of the villagers. It doesn’t seem like something that someone would want to partake in, but everyone does simply because its tradition. This story is a prime example of why blindly following tradition is weak. Anything that a person does in this world, they usually know why they are doing it, and most of the time it’s because they choose too. However, when it comes to tradition most people do not know why they are participating in certain things; and in situations like this one, that could be dangerous. The author starts the story with a sense of liberation. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass...
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...“The Lottery” is a short story that would have most people thinking and feeling good at the beginning. At the end, however, they learn the ironic truth that the reward is death. In the small village, the villagers repeat this horrific tradition of picking a person at random and stoning them to death without question. Jackson shows us how easily and willingly we will follow a tradition for no other reason than that’s just how things are. In her short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson shows us the blind following of tradition and the slow deterioration of the tradition through the use of symbols such as the black box, the Lottery, and Old Man Warner. The black box represents how the villagers really feel about the tradition. Every year they...
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...Society’s conformation to honor traditions Shirley Jackson’s observation on individuals not questioning the society in 1948, is reflected in the shocking short story. The scope of this literary essay is to examine the use of symbolism, foreshadowing and irony which represent the negative consequence of the lottery. In “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, Jackson uses symbolism, foreshadowing and irony to illustrate how society conforms to honor traditions which are outdated and barbarian. Jackson’s use of objects and names in the story symbolize the religious and symbolic meaning which leads to the brutal death of an innocent. In the story stones are very symbolic as it represents the death of an innocent individual. Stoning is a few methods...
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...Tradition Triggers Tragedy Traditions are blueprints for our beliefs, values, memories, relationships, and overall, our bond to society. They give a sense of belonging and can bring families together and reconnect friends. Not all traditions are healthy though. Both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost reveal the dangers in following tradition blindly. However, Frost uses symbolism to address this theme, while Jackson relies on word choice that creates a suspenseful tone. Initially, Both Jackson and Frost urge the reader to notice the negative impacts on questionable traditions. The citizens in “The Lottery” choose to carry out a tradition of coming together to find a winner of the town lottery in order to sacrifice...
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...The Blind Followers In the short story "The Lottery", the author, Shirley Jackson takes the reader to a town where the lottery is not something anyone would want to win. Every 27th of June a small town gathers in their town square and pick pieces of paper, hoping not to get the one piece of paper with a black dot on it. The town has done this ceremony since the town was established. Most of the people have forgotten why they even do this ceremony. The twist with this lottery is that the winner gets stoned to death by the towns people in a sort of ceremonial way. Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" raises the issue of following traditions and ceremonies blindly without question. The characters in Jackson's short story are all following this tradition blindly and without question. All the characters form up that morning at the town square, just like Marines being called to formation at the beginning and at the end of the day. Without any hesitation or uncertainty they all come, husbands, wives, children, and the elderly, all show up as if they were all just going to see a show or ride rides at a carnival. Being a town of just over 300, most of the characters know each other and as they begin to arrive women start catching up on the local gossip and the men start to talk about harvest and things that men talk about. When the director of the ceremony arrives and starts to call out names, most of the people are eager in a way and as the names of the head of households are...
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...to another. Cultural traditions are expressions of a certain group’s views, they are techniques of preserving one’s identity and they help people in that group mark significant occurrences or life transitions. These traditions usually display response and care based on gender, age, life stage, and social class. While many traditions promote unity, happiness and fellowship, others weaken the trait of social cohesion and the psychological health and integrity of certain individuals. Just because tradition have been present for a while, it does not mean it is always right. Some traditions...
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...Analyzing the Characters of “The Lottery”: Continuing Evil In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” we see a typical small town with tree lined streets and flowers, friendly neighbors, and children playing. This gives the town a warm and comfortable feeling. The summers here not only bring blue skies and warm temperatures, but also, the lottery. The people gather every June 27th, at 10am, in the center of town, and a “winner” is chosen. The “winner” is then stoned to death by the same people they call friends. This is the norm for this town. By examining a few of the characters in this story, the reader gets a chilling picture of how blindly following tradition can justify an evil like no other. Community leader, Mr. Summers, has his own coal business and is married, but has no children of his own. He gives his time leading the different activities in the town, such as dances, Halloween parties, and heading the teenage club. He is also in charge of running the lottery. Making up the slips of paper that will go into the black box, and conducting the actual lottery, are his two most important jobs. He greets everyone with a smile, and makes “small talk,” in spite of the event that is about to take place. Jackson says, “Mr. Summers was very good at all of this; in his clean white shirt and blue jeans, with one hand resting carelessly on the black box” (134). He was very relaxed, and seemed almost oblivious to the horrific event about to happen. He wanted things to run smoothly...
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...“The Lottery” and “The Mending Wall” have themes that almost mirror each other exactly. One shows a small town and its tradition of a cruel, random murder each and every June, that has been repeated for hundreds of years. The other shows two neighbors repairing a wall, the narrator thinks that repairing the wall is unnecessary and that the wall should not exist only to exist and serve no purpose, but his neighbor claims that the wall is key to maintaining their relationship. Both Shirley Jackson and Robert Frost play with the idea of blindly following tradition and how it can be harmful. This short story and poem are similar because in both, there are people who refuse to question tradition; while they differ because the consequences of ignorance are much greater in “The Lottery”. “He only says, “Good Fences make good neighbours.” Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder if I could put a notion in his head: “Why do they make good neighbours?”” The message Robert Frost tries to convey in this poem, is that breaking free of tradition if one feels the need to do so, is not wrong. He’s trying to tell the reader to be the one who questions things rather than just blindly following someone else’s beliefs or customs. In the short...
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...intriguing aspect of “The Lottery,” is the ability of the story to topple the reader’s expectations of what is going to happen as people blindly follow ancient rituals. Judging from the title of the work and the first few paragraphs, the reader probably assumes that the story instills a sense of hope and fortune. Based on societal norms, the winner of a lottery is generally rewarded a prize. As the story progresses however, the reader begins to realize that this story isn’t about a normal lottery as we know it. It is an annual gathering to uphold a village tradition in which one person is chosen to be stoned to death. This realization is not what was expected based on the hopeful title and peaceful opening paragraphs of the story....
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...short stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” By D.H. Lawrence, the two authors utilize symbols and themes to illustrate their stories with the main idea behind them both is that winning will not always result in a positive light. In the story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, the fictional story is written about a town tradition in which annually they draw one person’s name to be the winner of the lottery. This person is stoned to death by the entire community. There is not a prize of money or anything special except the fact that you are put to death. It gives a different meaning to the term lottery than we use today. The story “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” By D.H. Lawrence is a fictional story about a mothers constant desire for money and her overall disconnection and lack of affection she displays for her children and family. The mother connections Money with luck. In an attempt for her son Paul to earn her affection tries to find luck. Through the story Paul finds his luck in a rocking horse that appears to have magical powers that allow him to know how the horses will place during the derby’s. As time goes on Paul starts to display an addiction to winning and eventually dies at the end of the story. Where the story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is really about love. It started out talking about a beautiful woman who married for love, Paul her son tries to find a way to earn love from his mother, even to his death. “The Lottery” in contrast there...
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...Goodman Brown” and “The Lottery” By: Melissa A. Reeves Professor Andrew Smith ENGL 102-B46 LUO Thesis Statement The stories “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” both appear to show that human behavior and judgment can be flawed, even if the person’s intentions appear good to them. There is a level of fear and underlying evil in Puritan settings in both stories. I. Introduction/Statement of Thesis II. Themes and Author’s Purpose A. The Lottery i. Just because something has always been done, does not make it right or just; following the crowd can be dangerously wrong and evil. ii. The author shows through symbolism and storytelling that people can be easily influenced by society and those around them. iii. Also, the themes or persecution is addressed. B. Young Goodman Brown i. The theme is that believing that you are a righteous person does not always make you righteous. ii. The idea of doing one evil thing, but justifying it because it is only one time and he will never do it again and will be a good man afterward is addressed. III. Conclusion Symbolism found within “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” Melissa A. Reeves Liberty University Professor Andrew Smith 08/03/2014 Symbolism is found within both stories “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown”. In both stories, symbols help in conveying the theme to the reader. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, symbols are used...
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...THE LOTTERY When people talk about lottery, the first things in mind are luck and fortune. Every day, there’s a new winner somewhere on Earth, whose life has been changed forever, and everyone else is fantasizing about the perks of being a lottery winner. But sometimes, the common notion of a lottery winner is completely different from reality. A perfect example, is the story “the Lottery”, where an innocent, yet unlucky woman wins the lottery and the prize of getting stoned to death. Even though this sounds dramatic and brutal in our ears, it is not far from what is happening right now, in other countries in the world. But we don’t see it as a tradition, as they do in the story. The stoning of the “winner” is an annual tradition for the villagers; “Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done.” What is noticeable about this tradition was, that many of the villagers don’t seem to really understand why this is even a tradition. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” The fact that the villagers had forgotten the original ritual indicates that it doesn’t really mean a lot to them. They are doing it more for habit than desire. The stoning of Tessie Hutchinson does not involve any form of prosecution or criminal acts whatsoever, and is completely based on bad luck. The rest of the...
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