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 tale revolves around an annual lottery that a village holds to ensure that "the June lottery, the corn will be heavy soon" (6). Horrifyingly, 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 blindly following them. 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 story. Finally, the theme of violence and the human capacity for harm is exposed as The Lottery questions the inherent need of the villagers to collectively kill 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Topic Sentence: The theme of tradition in The Lottery explores why practices such as the lottery stoning ritual are accepted by the village simply because “there has always been a lottery” (6). Evidence and quotes: Amy A. Griffin describes the evolution of the inhuman ritual, explaining: “At one point in the village's history, the lottery represented a grave experience and all who participated understood the profound meaning of the tradition Villagers began to take the ritual lightly, almost like automatons – “actors” eager to return to their mundane, everyday lives… But why do villagers cling to tradition when they no longer find meaning in the ritual? postulates that, even if the meaning is not understood, the experience provides the individual with “a place and meaning for the lives of generations.” Comment: The villagers therefore feel obliged to continue this horrible tradition. Topic Sentence: The black box used in the lottery is a significant symbol of tradition in the tale. Evidence and Quotations: Each head of the family takes out a slip of paper from the ancient box, which symbolizes all the evil and cruel deeds that have taken place, as well as the murders 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 upset even the tradition represented by the black box" (2) exemplifies the villagers' fear of breaking traditions. Topic phrase: Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, also symbolizes the tradition present in the story. Evidence and quotes: He has seen seventy-seven lotteries that have been ceremoniously supported and is outraged by rumors of the ritual's demise – "Nothing but trouble in that... pack of young fools" (6). Commentary: Similar to the other three hundred members of the village, the only reason Old Man Warner kills someone once a year is because it always has. Jackson uses a variety of symbols to express the dangers of blindly following rituals, illustrating how evil practices or ideas are accepted without rationale simply because they are considered tradition. Topic Sentence: Next, one of the main themes, which is the injustice of persecution, is displayed when Tessie Hutchinsontakes the marked piece of paper. He hasn't done anything illegal or improper, but in the culture of this village anyone can be chosen to die, no matter who they are. Comment: Being chosen can be considered a theme that applies to the real world. If we look back in history, the Spanish invaded the lands of the Native Americans and killed them to make the land their own. This shows that the injustice of the accusation is a real thing, which happens to innocent people all the time. Theme 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 befall us like destiny,” and this can be experienced through rituals such as the annual lottery, which was conducted like a square dance or club meeting. Evidence and Quotations: The “life-death cycle” archetype also supports the theme because the village kills someone so that its crops grow healthy. As Griffin states in his critical essay, “the picnic atmosphere betrays the serious consequence of the lottery, for, like the seed, a sacrificial person must also be buried to generate life.” In The Lottery, this sacrificial person is Tessi Hutchinson, a woman who lived in sin and not coincidentally had the fate of the village's scapegoat. Tessi Hutchinson is late to the lottery and sarcastically says to the village "You wouldn't want me to leave the dishes in the sink now, would you?"(4) The villagers feel justified in killing their scapegoat; by stoning a sinner every year, they manage to purify themselves and have good harvests. When all the men open their slips of paper, the women begin to guess who will be sacrificed: "'Is it the Dunbars?' “Are they the Watsons?” (7). Their speculations show that they believe that people living in sin will be selected: Clyde Dunbar's wife had to draw for him and the Watson family had no father to draw for them : Jackson reflects on society's need for a scapegoat – by sacrificing someone like Tessi Hutchinson, the villagers see it as a worthy punishment, justifying the murder Theme sentence: The theme with the strongest presence in The Lottery is the society's tendency towards violence. Evidence and quotes: Although stoning is a brutal act, what makes it so terrifying is the fact that the village is portrayed as very peaceful and civilized until the moment Tessi Hutchinson is stoned to death. from friends and family. During the lottery the children "engaged in noisy games" (1), while the men "talked about sowing and rain, tractors and taxes" (2) and the women "exchanged small talk" (2). ). Jackson makes it clear that the villagers are desensitized to the violence of their ritual. “The entire lottery took less than two hours, so it could start at ten in the morning and be completed in time for the villagers to return home for their midday dinner” (1). Individuals in the community are afraid to oppose the lottery and instead participate in gruesome murders of innocent members of their village before returning home to have lunch, feeling more relief than remorse. Griffin states: “cowardly actions carried out in groups (such as the stoning of Mrs. Hutchinson) do not take place on an individual level, since in this case such actions 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 can remember with certainty. “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and.