The Barbaric Tradition In Mr. Jackson's The Lottery

Throughout the course of human history we have dealt with the inevitable changing of the guard that occurs every few generations. The Lottery is an emotional look into the lives of the residents of a small town as they deal with the moral implications of holding on to a tradition that is so old that the intricacies of the ritual are all but lost to the people currently living in the town, or choosing to give up the archaic and barbaric traditions that where started with the founding of the town, and pursuing more progressive and civilized behavior.
Ms. Jackson starts the story with a scene depicting a very happy and painfully normal summer day. There is an air that the day holds some particular importance and that there is an obvious reason that people are gathered in the town square; however the nefarious nature of the gathering doesn’t become apparent until about half way through. During the story Ms. Jackson alludes to the age of the Lottery ceremony, with descriptions of the box and its weathered appearance, and with the reference to lost parts of the ritual. Through the banter between the women of the town and the elderly Mr. Graves, she builds a feeling that the times are changing, by making suggestions that other towns have done away with the Lottery altogether. This new rebellion to the current status quo is met with stern and harsh
Standing in a circle with our hands filled with stones and probably the most important decision of our lives to make. Do we reject progress and change keeping society entrenched in its current state perpetuated by the cycles built by men long since dead and forgotten. Or do we reject everything that we hold dear and turn our backs on the history that paved the way for us to become what we are today simply for the sake of change. Either way there is more at stake then what may seem right at the time; these will be the decisions that radiate through