Introduction: Shirley Jackson's The Lottery is an alarming parable that explores the concept of senseless violence while presenting many other important themes. Context: The story revolves around an annual lottery held by a village to ensure that "the lottery in June, the corn will soon be heavy" (6). Unfortunately, the lottery winner is stoned to death by his friends and family. Thesis Statement: The main theme of The Lottery is tradition, emphasizing the need to question senseless rituals instead of following them blindly. Jackson also uses the "scapegoat" archetype as a theme when Terri Hutchinson is sacrificed to erase the rest of the village's sins. A similar archetypal situation of death and rebirth is also illustrated in the short story. Finally, the subject of violence and the human capacity to commit evil is exposed as The Lottery questions the villagers' inherent need to collectively murder someone every year. Jackson uses a variety of literary elements such as symbolism and archetype to express these themes, creating an exceptionally compelling story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay Topic Sentence: The theme of tradition in The Lottery explores why practices such as the lottery's stoning ritual are accepted by the village simply because “there has always been a lottery” (6). Evidence and Citation: Amy A. Griffin describes the evolution of this inhumane ritual, explaining: "At one point in the village's history, the lottery represented a serious experience, and all who participated understood the deeper meaning of the tradition. But over time, the villagers began to take the ritual lightly. They endure it almost like automatons – “actors” eager to return to their daily working lives… But why do the villagers cling to tradition when they no longer find meaning in the ritual? Carl Jung postulates that even if we do not understand its meaning, the experience gives “the individual a place and meaning in the life of generations”. Comment: The villagers therefore feel obliged to perpetuate this horrible tradition. Topic sentence: The black box used in the lottery is an important symbol of tradition in the short story. Evidence and Quote: Each head of the family draws a piece of paper from the ancient box, which summarizes all the evil and cruel actions that have taken place, as well as the killings that will continue until the tradition is stopped. Comment: The fact that the community refused to do something as simple as creating a new box because "no one liked to disrupt even so much the tradition that the black box represented" (2) illustrates the villagers' fear of break traditions. sentence: Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town also symbolizes the tradition present in the short story. Evidence and Quote: He has seen seventy-seven lotteries that were ceremonially conducted and is outraged by talk of ending the ritual - "Nothing but trouble in this...band of young fools" (6). Commentary: Similar to the other three hundred members of the village, Old Man Warner only kills someone once a year because it has always happened. Jackson uses a variety of symbols to express the dangers of blindly following rituals, illustrating how bad practices or ideas are accepted without justification simply because they are considered tradition. Topic Sentence: Next, one of the main themes being the injustice of persecution is displayed when Tessie Hutchinson takes the end ofmarked paper. She hasn't done anything illegal or inappropriate, but in the culture of this village, anyone can be chosen to die, no matter who they are. Comment: Being chosen can be seen as a theme that applies to the real world. If we look back in history, the Spanish were invading Native American lands and murdering them to take that land for themselves. This demonstrates how the injustice of prosecution is a real thing, which happens to innocent people all the time. Topic Sentence: In The Lottery, Jackson uses archetypes to build on themes such as the scapegoating that takes place when Tessi Hutchinson is stoned to death. Carl Jung describes archetypes as "complexes of experiences that come to us like fate", and this can be experienced through rituals such as the annual lottery, which took place like a square dance or a club meeting. Evidence and Quotes: The archetype of the "life-death cycle" also supports the theme as the village kills someone so that their crops will grow healthy. As Griffin says in his critical essay, "the picnic atmosphere betrays the grave consequences of the lottery, for like the seed, a sacrificial person must also be buried to give birth to life." In The Lottery, this sacrificial person is Tessi Hutchinson, a woman who lived in sin and who, unsurprisingly, was made the village scapegoat. Tessi Hutchinson arrived late for the lottery and sarcastically said to the village: "I wouldn't want to leave my dishes in the sink now, would you?" »(4) The villagers feel justified in killing their scapegoat; by stoning a sinner every year, they can purify themselves and have good harvests. When all the men open their pieces of paper, the women begin to guess who will be sacrificed: “Is it the Dunbars? » “Are these the Watsons?” (7). Their speculation demonstrates that they believe that people living in sin will be selected: Clyde Dunbar's wife had to draw for him, and the Watson family did not have a father to draw for them. Commentary: Jackson reflects on society's need for a scapegoat: by sacrificing someone like Tessi Hutchinson, the villagers see it as deserved punishment, justifying murder. Topic Sentence: The most prevalent theme in The Lottery is society's tendency toward violence. Evidence and Citation: Although stoning is a brutal act, what makes it so horrific is the fact that the village is described as being very peaceful and civilized until Tessi Hutchinson is stoned to death by her friends and family . During the lottery, the children “engaged in noisy games” (1), while the men “talked about plantations and rain, tractors and taxes” (2) and the women “exchanged gossip” (2 ). Jackson makes it clear that the villagers are desensitized to the violence of their ritual. “The entire lottery lasted less than two hours, so it was able to start at ten in the morning and end in time for the villagers to return home for midday dinner” (1). The community members are afraid to oppose the lottery and instead participate in horrific murders of innocent members of their village before returning home for lunch, feeling more relief than remorse. Griffin states: "Vile acts exhibited in groups (like the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson) do not take place on an individual level, because here such acts would be considered murder." At the group level, people classify their heinous acts simply as rituals” (45). Even though the ritual has become meaningless to the villagers, the violence is still the only thing they remember with certainty. “Even if the villagers.