The Lottery Tradition Essay

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Traditions are a repetitive custom or belief that is passed of from generation to generation and are sometimes done without knowledge or reason. In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the lottery is treated as a normal tradition in the lives of the townspeople, similar to traditions that we celebrate today. There are so many traditions in the story that are overlooked just as in life and just done because they always have been. In the story, the people of the town seem to treat the lottery as a normal tradition in their lives. One example shows that the children view this as ordinary because “they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play,” still talking to each other “of the classroom and …show more content…
One example of a tradition that we follow that we do not question is the Easter Bunny. Although Easter is supposed to be a Christian celebration, Americans follow a custom of a life-sized bunny bringing them hard-boiled eggs and candy on this day. There is no connection between the religious celebration and this odd, egg-laying bunny, but no one ever asks why we celebrate the holiday this way. Another example of a tradition is fireworks on the fourth of July. Although fire and gunshots are associated with danger, Americans love to fuel their patriotism with fireworks, to celebrate their country’s independence. No one questions the use or symbol of fireworks because people enjoy it. Additionally, daylight savings is no longer a necessary action that is taken yearly. It was used to give more daylight for farmers back in the old days so that everyone in the family could help, but now there are far fewer farms, and the machinery has lights. This tradition is no longer necessary, but people are used to the changing times each year. Also, carving pumpkins during Halloween is not related to the scaring of innocent children dressed in costumes begging for candy from neighborhood strangers. Pumpkin carving is a tradition that no one knows how it’s associated with Halloween past the fact that the holiday colors are
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