In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery,” the theme of this short story is blatantly the tribal nature of the small community that the setting takes place in.
In this short story the nature of all the
community members allowing the lottery to go on for so many years is a norm for
them. They have always done it for years
and years so why stop it now? Old Man Warner
has seen 70 different lotteries and he has never been chosen, with this man
being in the older generation because the lottery has been going on for so long
he is against the idea of it stopping now with his two cents being put in he says
responding to something saying that other towns have quit the lottery “Nothing
but trouble in that,” or “Pack of crazy fools,” referring to the other towns
quitting a tradition that has been never been changed.
Tribal natures of smaller communities are traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. And when “outsiders” or someone that tries to rebel against these tribal natures they no longer belong. So from the standpoint of the families or members of the community standing back in the crowd instead of coming forward is relevant to say that they do not want to be the rebel to change what has always happens from years before. Therefore the traditions of that community will still go on whether or not someone will try to change that. The generations that have been raised that these traditions are good for them will not go against the word of the person that started them in the first place.
Tribal natures of smaller communities are traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. And when “outsiders” or someone that tries to rebel against these tribal natures they no longer belong. So from the standpoint of the families or members of the community standing back in the crowd instead of coming forward is relevant to say that they do not want to be the rebel to change what has always happens from years before. Therefore the traditions of that community will still go on whether or not someone will try to change that. The generations that have been raised that these traditions are good for them will not go against the word of the person that started them in the first place.
Perhaps the biggest hope for keeping small communities from these terrible thought and actions is the ones who move away and those who go on to get education that moves beyond the community indoctrination?
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