"The Lottery"

“The Lottery,” written by Shirley Jackson, shows a town’s annual ritual that takes place every year just as it has for many prior years. This communal activity that takes place in the town’s square is accepted, yet feared. Each person in the village must select a piece of paper out of the black box and, if they are the one unlucky person whose paper has a black dot on it, they are stoned to death by the entire community.

Today, many rituals take place. Drinking alcohol in excess is a ritual that reminds me of “The Lottery.” Many people gather together in bars to complete the drinking ritual, as the townspeople gathered in the town’s square for their ritual. Although it is known that drinking in excess leads to organ damage, violent behavior, and danger to oneself and to others, it is an accepted routine. Not everyone dies from getting drunk, but there are the random few whose drinking causes their death, or the death of another person. In Jackson’s story, not everyone was hurt by the ritual, but each year, one random person did feel it’s fatal affects. Many people fear death, yet they still get drunk, knowing that it could kill them. In “The Lottery,” the community’s people know that the ritual could bring upon their death, yet they take part in it, because it is commonly accepted.

The ritual that takes place in “The Lottery” continues year after year, because it is instilled in the people and is part of their heritage. The thought of changing even a small part of the ritual, such as the black wooden box, is out of the question, because “…no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented in the black box” (406). This shows the intense respect that the people carry for their ritual and the fear they bear for any alterations to it.

The people are afraid to draw the piece of paper with a black dot drawn on it, yet they seem equally scared of changing or removing the ritual. A recommendation to end the ritual could lead to the stoning of that person, because so many of the townspeople feel strongly about keeping their tradition unaltered. The possibility of punishment, or death, for their suggestion would persuade anyone unhappy with the ritual to keep their mouth shut. The prosperity and happiness of the town’s people also leaves those against the ritual with no crucial reason to give for ending the ritual, seeing as it only negatively affects one person each year. The minority of the townspeople, who do wish to end the gruesome event that takes place every year on “[t]he morning of June 27th…“ (405), have no choice, but to deal with the tradition, because they don’t have the power needed to overthrow those people who don’t want to get rid of the ritual.

Drinking excessively is a common practice today, which is neither healthy, nor safe. The ritual in “The Lottery” is also a common tradition among the people, even though it causes death to someone they know and care about. People tend to follow the majority, whether the majority is doing something right or something wrong. It is hard to go against what is common place and break away from the norm. As with the people who continue the ritual in Jackson’s story, people today follow our tradition of binge drinking, because it is accepted by the majority of people, which must mean its okay to do.