Religious Aspects of the Lottery
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Religious Aspects of “The Lottery”
Shirley Jackson was an author who was known for making stories that contained weird and unusual event that took place in a common setting. “The Lottery” is a perfect example of this. The book starts off in a peaceful village where everything seems fine to have someone get stoned to death at the end. Although “The Lottery”, seems to end in a gruesome matter the story contains information that shows that this tradition is connected to religion. By looking at the way the lottery is conducted, the symbolism, and the characters of the story one can see that there is a strong connection to religion in the story.
The story takes place in a small unnamed town. This town is inhabited by a small group of people. Usually in towns like these there is a strong belief in a religion or a higher power and this belief is always followed. In Jackson “The Lottery” the town has the tradition of hosting an annual lottery every year. “The lottery was conducted as were the square dances, the teenage club, and the Halloween program” (113). This shows that
there was nothing strange about the lottery, and the people accepted it because it was part of their everyday living lifestyle. The lottery is set up in a way that there will be one
person chosen at random from a resident of the town. This is done by marking a name with a black dot. Whoever is chosen is then stoned to death by the other villagers. This relates to religion in a couple ways. One way is that in many religions there has always been a sacrifice made in order to get something good in return. Although not much is known about the lottery and why it was started, there is a saying that goes “lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (113). So in the case of the lottery if someone were to be sacrificed, the village would have a prosperous farming season.
Also,” the tradition of the lottery is analogous to religious tradition because it is passed on at an early age, people...
Shirley Jackson was an author who was known for making stories that contained weird and unusual event that took place in a common setting. “The Lottery” is a perfect example of this. The book starts off in a peaceful village where everything seems fine to have someone get stoned to death at the end. Although “The Lottery”, seems to end in a gruesome matter the story contains information that shows that this tradition is connected to religion. By looking at the way the lottery is conducted, the symbolism, and the characters of the story one can see that there is a strong connection to religion in the story.
The story takes place in a small unnamed town. This town is inhabited by a small group of people. Usually in towns like these there is a strong belief in a religion or a higher power and this belief is always followed. In Jackson “The Lottery” the town has the tradition of hosting an annual lottery every year. “The lottery was conducted as were the square dances, the teenage club, and the Halloween program” (113). This shows that
there was nothing strange about the lottery, and the people accepted it because it was part of their everyday living lifestyle. The lottery is set up in a way that there will be one
person chosen at random from a resident of the town. This is done by marking a name with a black dot. Whoever is chosen is then stoned to death by the other villagers. This relates to religion in a couple ways. One way is that in many religions there has always been a sacrifice made in order to get something good in return. Although not much is known about the lottery and why it was started, there is a saying that goes “lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (113). So in the case of the lottery if someone were to be sacrificed, the village would have a prosperous farming season.
Also,” the tradition of the lottery is analogous to religious tradition because it is passed on at an early age, people...