Modernism And Modernization In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery

Modernizing for most people means replacing old traditions with new practices fit for the current issues. For some, this is progression, and without this, civilization would be stuck in a primitive society, or as some would say, living inside of a cave (Jackson par. 33). This is what Shirley Jackson tries to encompass in her story, â€Å"The Lottery†. Practices were created out of a necessary during their time, but lived on as traditions that is more destructive than beneficial, and this is seen with various symbols in the â€Å"The Lottery†. The tradition in â€Å"The Lottery† calls for a yearly lottery where the household draws until a single individual of the family draws the losing paper, and it is that individual that is stoned to death, as seen†¦show more content†¦At this point, most readers saw their play with the stones as childhood innocence, of giving insignificant objects importance. Then the stones were used to stone someone to death. This can be seen as situational irony, as readers were unaware and assumed. A stoning is a community involvement where everyone shares the burden of the death, unlike an execution where the executioner or those in charge are to blame. Some of the lottery rituals were allowed to lapse as long as long as the core theme was kept the same. Mr. Summers, the official in the story, tried every year to change the ritual, such as getting a new box, but he was able to substitute the chips of wood for slips of paper (par. 6). Also, there used to be a† ritual salute, w hich the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came up to draw from the box† (par. 7). And there is confusion about what was used, as some believed that the official performed a tuneless chant, while others believed he stood at the front or â€Å"walk among the people† (par. 7). This shows that the villagers follow the tradition blindly, without necessarily understanding why it was created in the first place or the exactly how the ritual took place. Old Man Warner embodies the traditionalist view on life. He does not approve of the changes made, or how casual the community is to the tradition, and this is seen by his disapproving of â€Å"young Joe