22 September 2014

"The Lottery" Reaction

- - -  What is the main theme in The Lottery?  Support your response with evidence from text.

- - -  Explain how you used your understanding of character to derive theme.

56 comments:

  1. The theme of the lottery is not everything in life is fair. No one wants to be picked for the lottery yet one family has to and its the Hutchinson's. Understanding character helps because, an example is of Mrs. Hutchinson screaming about how this isn't fair because her husband did not get to choose the card he wanted. By saying that it gives a better understanding of what the theme could be.

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  2. The main theme in "The Lottery" is do not celebrate antiquated, brutal events solely due to pride and tradition. In "The Lottery," the townspeople spoke of places that had eradicated the event of the lottery, and acted as if their town was superior. There was talk of how a town could not function without the lottery, and there was not any reasoning behind that logic. At the beginning of the story, Old Man Warner insisted that a lack of lottery is equivalent to a lack of civilization. However, Warner frowned upon the light-hearted attitude of the lottery participants in such a heavy situation and spoke of the lottery when it was still somewhat respectable, back when people weren't the way they are now. Towards the end of the story, he implied that the new attitude surrounding the lottery was antiquated brutal, and perhaps it should either go to the way it was before or stop altogether.

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  3. Consequences of blindly following traditions. Evidence from the story are it says that Tessie was very excited about the lottery and looked forward to it every year. The one day she was late for the lottery her family ends up getting picked and then she says that it was unfair and they shouldn't do the lottery any more. Everybody was there on time and that one day Tessie was late she gets picked to be stoned to death. I used my understanding of character by using the clues in the story because it showed that in the beginning that since Tessie was late there was something bad going to happen to her. When her family got picked she said that it wasn't fair because Bill didn't have enough time to pick the piece of paper. But since she was excited for this tradition every year and then she got picked so then she thought it was unfair because she thought what are the chances of her family/her getting picked in the lottery. Her eagerness got to her and she paid the ultimate consequence for her actions.

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  4. The main theme of The Lottery is tradition evolves, yet people will still follow it and teach it. In the story, Old Man Warner states that he has been doing the lottery for seventy-seven years showing that the lottery has been a tradition for years. He then proceeds to state how people have changed in his time and discourage the elimination of the lottery all together. This shows how traditions change with the people; newer generations feel that the lottery is unnecessary and older generations disagree. Throughout the story, the narrator compares the current lottery ceremonies to those of the past. The narrator explains how the box has become chipped, the wood chips have been replaced, and the various rituals that have been forgotten. By explaining this, the narrator exhibits how even though the tradition has been altered the people of the village will still follow it. Davy is given a stone to throw at the end of the story. This conveys how traditions are passed on to the new generation. I used my understanding of character to derive the theme in The Lottery. By understanding character I was able to use their actions to create an overall theme. The actions of the villagers and how they develop within the story enabled me to derive a theme. The villagers have forgotten the specific rituals of the lottery, yet they continue to perform it every June. Davy is taught the tradition from his elders and will join in the tradition for years to come. Old Man Warner's character was static throughout the story. His actions solidified the fact that traditions stick even though they have changed. All of the villagers follow the ritual even as Tessie begs that it is unfair. The people of the village have forgotten the reason for the ritual, yet they still stone Tessie because it is tradition. These actions, inactions, and progressions of character helped me to conclude that the theme of The Lottery is tradition evolves, yet people will continue to follow it and teach it.

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  5. Do not let tradition influence violence in human Nature.
    In "The Lottery", Tessie was a dynamic character. She was so caught up in the tradition of the lottery. When the tables turned, and she was picked for the lottery, Tesse was protesting against it trying to avoid the tradition.

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  6. The main theme is that humans will comply with anything as long as it is an accepted norm or tradition. Evidence occurs in the way that Tessie Hutchinson, the protagonist, realizes the immorality of stoning as she is chosen as victim. Every other person in the village, even her family, carries on with the tradition and urges others to do so as well, despite Tessie's arguments emphasizing unfairness and immorality. Because I knew that a change in character can reveal theme, I noticed Tessie's change as a dynamic character and the absence of development in the rest, all static characters. I was therefore able to see Tessie's view switch from acceptance to intolerance of the tradition as the others' view of the tradition remained unchanged.

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  7. The main theme of The Lottery is traditions that do not have a beneficial meaning should not be continued because they have no worth and may even be harmful to the culture. Old Man Warner complains frequently about how local villages are taking away the lottery as a tradition. This shows that the people are attached to this tradition that has no meaning. The townspeople insist on having the same box every year and using wooden chips in the lottery. These factors will have no affect on the tradition and are traditions just for the sake of traditions. Finally, the story is shown through the eyes of Mrs. Hutchinson, a woman chosen for the lottery. The readers see her pain and feel her suffering resulting from this worthless tradition, showing that some meaningless traditions can have a negative affect on participants.

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  8. The main theme from the lottery is "People often have an unwillingness to break tradition." Villager Mr. Adams mentions that "some places have already quit lotteries." This fact is rebuffed by Old Man Warner, who snorts and calls the towns who have taken part in the decline of the lottery a "pack of crazy fools." Mr. Adams voiced an idea that would mean breaking tradition. This point is dismissed because the thought of breaking tradition appears to be unimaginable. I used my understanding of character to analyze the interaction between dialogue of the characters to come to my conclusion.

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  9. The main theme of The Lottery is not to do something even if it's tradition or is accepted by everyone else. In the story, everyone one in the village didn't mind when Mrs. Hutchinson was late and delayed the lottery. In fact they even joked around with her in the process which shows that she was well liked, However whenever she gets picked for the lottery, all the town people turn on her and stone her to death including her own family.
    My understanding of characters helped me find my theme by noticing that all the village people are dynamic. They are dynamic because they all turned on the woman just because it was accepted among the community and was tradition.

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  10. The main theme in "The Lottery" is that family sometimes has to sacrifice things for each other even if they don't want to. I believe this is the main theme because after Mr. Hutchinson is chosen, Tessie argues with Mr. Summers about the outcome of it all. In the end, Tessie is the one who has to sacrifice her own life for her family, even though she was not the one to do the unlucky drawing.

    I used character to derive the theme because the characters only seem to care about their families. However, they may not be willing to sacrifice everything for their family members. Each of the villagers seem to be "okay" with the whole "drawing of the lottery" until their family is the one being chosen, then they become some what selfish and worrisome for the well being of their family.

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  11. The theme of "The Lottery" is; it is not safe to follow tradition when you do not know why you are following it. It's not safe because in cases like this, you can die. My understanding of character helps me determine theme because none of the characters talk about why they are using the lottery system. They are just following what people have told them to do instead of listing to their own mind.

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  12. The main theme is that life is not fair but you have to deal with what you have. In this story the little girl Tessie has to be stoned because she picked the card with the black dot. I used my understanding of character to find my theme by finding the central conflict and how it is resolved because that's what theme is.

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  13. The main theme in The Lottery is tradition, they are important in many societies and become apart of society but can be hard to change or get rid of after doing it for so long. In the lottery "Every year, after the lottery, Mr.Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done." Around every year after the lottery the tradition of box was questioned to be changed to a new box. It was a hard tradition to get rid of that the subject was avoided and faded off til next year.

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  14. The main theme in The Lottery is tradition, they are important in many societies and become apart of society but can be hard to change or get rid of after doing it for so long. In the lottery "Every year, after the lottery, Mr.Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done." Around every year after the lottery the tradition of box was questioned to be changed to a new box. It was a hard tradition to get rid of that the subject was avoided and faded off til next year.

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  15. The main theme in The Lottery is continuing a tradition can be ferocious. "'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and they were upon her." Mrs. Hutchinson is a character that wants to break away from the lottery tradition. "'Some places have already quit lotteries.' Mrs. Adams said.
    'Nothing but trouble in that,' Old Man Warner said stoutly." Old Man Warner is a man of tradition and he believes the lottery is good for the village.

    By using my understanding of character, I derived theme by seeing if the protagonist was static or dynamic and round or flat. The village is flat and static. It's major flaw is that it will not break away from the tradition of the lottery, even if it is time to move on for the better of the people.

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  16. The main theme of "The Lottery" is sometimes tradition is not always best for the present day. I believe this to be the theme because within the story some of the town citizens were talking about how other villages are getting rid of the lottery. Also Mrs. Hutchinson started to say it wasn't fair. I used my understanding of character to derive theme by looking at how the characters acted and what they said. The story said the villagers were nervous and talked about stopping the lottery. I feel as if many of the character do not think the lottery is necessary and they cannot even remember why they have it.

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  17. A theme for this short story could be people are reluctant to change even when what they have been doing is bad. One example from the text is when it says although they had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box they still remembered to use stones. This shows they didn't want to change and only forgot the things that weren't harmful, but still performed the horrible tasks associated with their traditions. My understanding of character did help me derive my theme. I know that characters tend to follow wiser and older people for education. In this story's case Old Man Warner is the wisest and oldest character and he criticizes anyone who wants or tries to change traditions. This helped me create my theme that people are reluctant to change even when what they have been doing is bad.

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  18. The theme of "The Lottery" is that people often follow cruel or unfair events/rules simply because they are tradition. The whole idea of the lottery is cruel and turns a village against one another, but nobody protests or tries to stop it because it is a tradition they have had for far too long. Even after all the protesting Mrs. Hutchinson gives, nobody tries to protect her and instead carry on with the lottery. Her own children helped in the stoning. The protagonist, the village, did not change at all throughout the story, which is what leads me to this theme.

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  19. Anastasia LandstorferSeptember 22, 2014 at 8:30 PM

    The main theme in this story is that things will not change for you just because it may have for others. In the story it states how in other villages they quit doing the lottery. This gives the villages who still do it false hope. In the village we read about it gives no evidence that they will be quitting the lottery any time soon. I looked at the characters actions towards each other. When Tessie knew that she was chosen her husband had no problem with grabbing the paper slip and showing it to all. He did not hesitate at all or show sympathy towards his companion. Mr. Summers also did not allude to any sad feelings about the situation. Tessie said she wanted a redraw or a second chance. Nobody sided with her and Mr. Summers just said "All right, folks". These actions show that everyone was one for themselves.

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  20. The theme is: sometimes it's better to move away from traditions and become the "pack of crazy fools" who no longer hold on to old ethics and life styles. I know this is the theme, because I analysed the characters Mrs. Hutchinson and old man Warner. During the lottery drawing, Mrs. Hutchinson kept saying how it was unfair for someone to be chosen. Eventually, a conversation started about the nearby villages that have stopped doing the lottery, but old man Warner called these people a "pack of young fools." He's one of the old people who can't let go of the tradition. The story results with the stoning of an innocent Mrs. Hutchinson who drew the lottery.That's the central conflict of the story. The tradition of the lottery.

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  21. The main theme in the short story, The Lottery, is that traditions may not always remain with positive outcomes. Traditions may be something that feels like it has to be continued throughout generations, but in some cases it is okay to discontinue. The lottery is an example of a tradition that should not happen in the village. Mrs. Hutchinson is stoned to death because she pulled a black dot out of a box. This is unnecessary and should not happen randomly to an innocent villager. Other villages have stopped this tradition because they recognized how silly the lottery is. I noticed change in character of Mrs. Hutchinson. Once she realized that she was in danger of being stoned to death, she began to blame everything on the lottery. She changes her opinion on the lottery and tries to convince the villagers that what is going on should not occur. The Lottery conveys a message to the readers that change in tradition can be necessary when the outcome is not positive time and time again.

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  22. The main theme in The Lottery is that old traditions can bring a new age of people together. I used my understanding of character to derive the theme of the piece because Mrs. Hutchinson changes from almost bitter in the beginning of the story to sad, almost pleading that the other villagers don't kill her. The other villagers act as a foil to Mrs. Hutchinson because they force her to change and reveal her character.

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  23. The theme of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is that people should be careful about which arguments they try to fight. This is seen the story when Mrs. Hutchinson tried to argue the point that the lottery was unfair when her husband did not get enough time to pick his piece of paper. This lead to her family redrawing. She then picked the paper with the black dot on it, sentencing her to death. If she would have thought things through, her husband would have died. That is not the best outcome, but for Mrs. Hutchinson, its better than death. I concluded this as the theme because theme can be derived from the characters and what they learn. Mrs. Hutchinson would have learned that arguing when outnumbered will cause you to lose. I used this to interpret the theme of people should be careful about which arguments they try to fight.

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  24. The village follows the tradition of the Lottery every year adn supports a random violent murder each year. Old Man Warren says it is good for their society but, they do not realize that the tradition they are following is dangerous and truly has no importantance in their society. So, the theme of the story is the danger of following traditions blindly. I derived this theme from analizing Old man Warren and Tessie Hutchinson. Tessie and Old man Warren both follow and believe in the tradition until she is picked and realizes how bad the tradition is. Old man Warren also says how other communities have quit the tradition and their societies have not changed which shows that the lottery is insignificent to the village.

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  25. The main theme of the The Lottery is to not wish something upon others that you would not wish for yourself. In the story Tessie Hutchinson is a perfect example of the theme. She roots and cheers for the other families to be stoned in the lottery but when she is chosen she pleads to not be stoned and says, "this isn't fair, stop". This is ironic because, she did not think this would happen to her but did. Mrs. Hutchinson said, "It isn't fair, it isn't right," while they were ready to through the stones.
    I used the understanding of the character Tessie Hutchinson to derive theme. Her characters actions in the story led me to the conclusion that you don't wish something upon others that you wouldn't except yourself. Tessie wished that others got stoned but when she was the one getting stoned she told people this wasn't right and its not fair.

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  26. The main theme in The Lottery is that although we tend to fear change, the inability to accept it can often lead to undesirable outcomes. This is shown through the way Old Man Warner talked about how ignorant the younger generations were to try and quit the lottery. It is also depicted when even though the townspeople knew that the lottery was wrong, they continued to go through with it anyway. I used the understanding of character to derive my theme because it was through their words and actions that I could get a feel for the way of their society and how they changed throughout the story in relation to the conflict.

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  27. The theme is that people do not realize what they are doing while following a tradition. The people of the village murder someone each year and do not realize the weight of their actions. They mention how some towns have gotten rid of their lotteries. Old Man Warner has been to seventy-seven lotteries now and accepts the tradition. The protagonist, Tessie, shows us that the people do not resist the lottery. When she protests the lottery, the townspeople hush her and continue with the ritual.

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  28. The theme is that people do not realize what they are doing while following a tradition. The people of the village murder someone each year and do not realize the weight of their actions. They mention how some towns have gotten rid of their lotteries. Old Man Warner has been to seventy-seven lotteries now and accepts the tradition. The protagonist, Tessie, shows us that the people do not resist the lottery. When she protests the lottery, the townspeople hush her and continue with the ritual.

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  29. After reading this short story, I think a main theme of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson could be that following what has always been done isn't always a good idea. The townspeople are anxious and fearful when it comes to lottery day, and Old Man Warner is the only man who believes the tradition should keep going. He only follows this because it's considered tradition, and he has been through it 77 times.

    I used my understanding of character to get this theme by noticing the attitudes of the villagers towards the lottery. Everybody including Old Man Warner is scared, and some people mention getting rid of the lottery. Old Man Warner refuses to and calls them foolish, simply because it is tradition, and to get rid of tradition would be crazy.

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  30. The main theme in short story is that people make irrational or immoral decisions because of the fear for their own, or their families lives. For example, in the story, the citizens involved in the town choose to not restart the lottery process because they feared that if they did, they would be stoned to death. Even though the decision was immoral, they chose it because they feared for their own lives. I recognized the change in Mrs. Hutchinson, and realized that the characters around her had come to irrational thoughts, which ultimately sentenced her to death.

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  31. The main theme in "The Lottery" was that some traditions are to hard to break and will live on to be passed on to younger and younger generations. The lottery was an important tradition in the towns people lives. They risked getting stoned to death on a annual bases. When Mr. Summer proposed a new box the towns people refused it because they thought that bits and pieces of the original box was used to make the current black box. When Mrs. Adams said the some towns quit doing the lottery Old Man Warner was very upset about it. He said that it was a "pack of young fools" it really was because he wanted to keep the tradition going. Since it was Old Man Warner's 77th year in the drawing of the lottery. Also the towns people stoned Mrs. Huntchinson to death like it was nothing. The towns people couldn't of cared less about who they stoned to death. In fact Old Man Warner tried to rush the stoning along because he wanted to get along with his life. Then the young boys stacked up the smoothest stones they could find to stone someone. Also Mr. Summer did the same routine every single lottery. The lottery to the towns people was like us opening Christmas presents on Christmas day. The fact is some traditions are just to hard to break. They will live on and be passed on to younger generations like bad habits.

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  32. The main theme is that you shouldn't go along with something just because everyone else is. Year after year the village continues this tradition of the lottery. Old Man Warner even said, "There's always been a lottery." Whenever Mr. and Mrs. Adams talk about other villages who stopped the lottery, Old Man Warner said, "Nothing but trouble in that." In the end the village continues with the lottery and kills one of their own without realizing that what they're doing is wrong. I used my understanding of character to find theme through change. The characters were static throughout the story which explains why they continue the cruel tradition of the lottery every year even though its wrong.

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  33. The theme in "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson, is trouble can occur when following traditions from your ancestors. In the short story, every year the village follows a tradition by murdering one person from their village in a lottery. This can lead to trouble because the villagers do not realize what they are doing is wrong. The villagers focus on keeping their tradition the same. It is mentioned that they did not want to build a new voting box, even though the old one was made up of splinters and the original wood color was visible. This shows that the villagers are static characters because they did not change their perspective about their tradition. Therefore, the character is a key element to deriving theme because the theme is revealed by the change of the protagonist, or the villagers, views.

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  34. The main theme in 'The Lottery' is that people shouldn't be narrow minded and instead open to change. In the story, Mr. Adams is talking to Old Man Warner about giving up the lottery because he is one who believes it is not a good idea to break off from the tradition of the lotteries. Old Man Warner is entering his 77th lottery.

    The characters' actions and words are a major influence on the theme of a story. In this particular story, the characters' conflicting opinions form the theme. Tessie's outlook on the lottery changes after her name is drawn which leads to the reveal of the theme.

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  35. The theme in The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is trouble can occur when following traditions from your ancestors. In the short story, every year the village follows a tradition by murdering one person from their village in a lottery. This can lead to trouble because the villagers do not realize what they are doing is wrong. The villagers focus on keeping their tradition the same. It is mentioned that they did not want to build a new voting box, even though the old one was made up of splinters and the original wood color was visible. This shows that the villagers are static characters because they did not change their perspective about their tradition. Therefore, the character is a key element to deriving theme because the theme is revealed by the change of the protagonist, or villagers, views.

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  36. The theme of The Lottery is that following traditions blindly is deadly. The villagers participate in the Lottery every year not knowing what past traditions were. The author writes, " At one time, some people remebered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory." This proves that the villagers do not know the origin of the lottery, but only try to pass along the tradition. Understanding character helped me find the theme because of their actions. They kill a person every year because of a tradition that they do not know a reason for.

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  37. The theme is that tradition can corrupt people to commit dangerous acts. The lottery is a tradition that dates back to a time that no one, not even Old Man Warner, knows. Since the tradition has been occurring for so long the village people became so accustomed to it that they kept it going. In the beginning, all the people all seem to be getting along. The kids are running around, while the men and women are talking. When Mrs. Hutchinson's husband ends up choosing the dotted paper, she attempts to throw her own kids under the bus just to save her own life. The moment the people find out that Mrs. Hutchinson is the "winner" of the lottery everyone, even her friends and family, pick up a stone and take part in the killing. They don't see her as their friend, wife, or mom anymore, just another person that they have to kill. All they know is that it is a tradition they take part in every year. The lottery became such a regular routine that they don't even have a second thought about what they are committing.

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  38. The main theme of The Lottery is that it is a bad idea to take part in a tradition in which you don't know the end consequences. In the story there is a tradition known as "The Lottery". Everybody thinks this tradition is for the good, but if you end up as the "winner" of the lottery, you get rocks thrown at you and eventually are killed. The characters helped me understand the theme because they think the end result of this tradition is good but they don't realize it is terrible. The characters that throw the rocks at the "winner" are committing a murder but don't even realize it. The "winning" character of the lottery end up being killed because they are getting rocks thrown at them. The characters do not fully understand the tradition but still do it anyway because they don't realize what horrible events take place during this lottery.

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  39. The main theme in "The Lottery is that there can be danger brought from unknowing people's firm belief in following tradition. In "The Lottery", no mater who draws the card with the dot, everyone in the Village will assist in killing them. The people of the Village will turn on even their loved ones because of they want to follow tradition. My understanding of character helped me see that the protagonist in the story is the Village itself. Unlike most stories, the protagonist does not change throughout "The Lottery", due to their morals of tradition. This helped me to develop the theme, "there can be danger brought from unknowing people's firm belief in following tradition".

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  40. The theme is that tradition can corrupt people to commit dangerous acts. The lottery is a tradition that dates back to a time that no one, not even Old Man Warner, knows. Since the tradition has been occurring for so long the village people became so accustomed to it that they kept it going. In the beginning, all the people all seem to be getting along. The kids are running around, while the men and women are talking. When Mrs. Hutchinson's husband ends up choosing the dotted paper, she attempts to throw her own kids under the bus just to save her own life. The moment the people find out that Mrs. Hutchinson is the "winner" of the lottery everyone, even her friends and family, pick up a stone and take part in the killing. They don't see her as their friend, wife, or mom anymore, just another person that they have to kill. All they know is that it is a tradition they take part in every year. The lottery became such a regular routine that they don't even have a second thought about what they are committing.

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  41. In "The Lottery" the main theme is that most people like to stick to routine, rather than changing. In this story, the lottery is something that happens routinely and has been happening for many years. For example, in the story it states that the black box used for the lottery was older than Old Man Warner, who was the oldest man in town, proving that the lottery has been happening for a long time. I used my understanding of character to derive theme through the dialogue that some characters said. For example, when Mrs. Adams says that some places have already quit lotteries, Old Man Warner says that there is nothing in trouble in that, and that those people are young fools. This shows that change is not wanted. They want to follow the same routine they have been following all their life.

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  42. The theme that can be derived from observing the characters in "The Lottery" would be the danger of blindly following tradition. The villagers acceptance of the lottery allowed murder to become a town tradition. Old Man Warner is very faithful to this tradition, and fears that if it is discontinued the village will go back to primitive times. In the beginning of the story, Tessie accepts the lottery for what it is and doesn't question the reason for it. Tessie's perspective of the lottery changes when she is chosen to be sacrificed and declares the lottery unfair. Although, the ordinary villagers will easily kill someone if told to do so. The village never had a reason for the lottery and never questioned its existence. If a villager did question the lottery, that person would be forced to question themselves why they are killing someone. The only reason they committed murder is because it is town tradition, and that is the only justification they need.

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  43. The main theme in "The Lottery" is that greediness helps nobody. Mrs. Hutchinson is the main cause for my theme. She, at the end of the story, complains how the lottery wasn't fair. So, Mr. Summers being the generous man he is doesn't ignore her but grants her wish. Unfortunately, the results are not in her favor. If she would have let the lottery go the way it was the first time, she would be fine. I used my understanding of character to derive this theme by analyzing the protagonist and seeing there isn't change to his character which lead me to believe that another character must help push forward that theme. In this case, that is true. Mrs. Hutchinson seemed relaxed until bad news was upon her husband, then she was the one to change.

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  44. The main theme is to be able to create an impact or make a change, you have to join together to accomplish anything. When Mrs. Adams mentioned, '" Some places have already quit lotteries"' , and Old Man Warner countered calling them fools. Since no one stood up for Mrs. Adams, her point was lost, and this revealed the main theme. Again when Mrs. Hutchinson claimed the lottery rigged, no one supported her. The villagers were satisfied that the children did not have the lottery, so they thought she was being a bad sport. The central conflict was resolved because all the villagers supported and perticipaited in Mrs. Summers lottery. This supported the main theme when the majority continued the lottery.

    I used Mr. Summers and Mrs. Hutchinson to derive the theme. Mr. Summers was static and Mrs. Hutchinson was dynamic. Mr. Summers remains persistent in keeping the lottery a tradition, and he accomplished his goal by being very figure headed. He revealed the main theme when the central conflict was resolved. Mrs. Hutchinson revealed the main theme when no one supported her, and she was stoned. She started out part of the neutral group for the lottery, but she transformed to outraged when she got the lottery.

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  45. The theme of the short story, The Lottery, is the customs and beliefs have a way of following you. The lottery to the villagers seem like it's been a tradition for eternity. The villagers are used to the traditions and are able to have there names pulled countless times. The villagers all get anxious from the pulling as a sign of excitement. The characters show signs to derive the theme as well. They all show the excitement for the lottery and it also says in the story, that when Mr. Summers was give the directions, all the villagers were half listening because they already know the directions and the rules. The Lottery, shows that customs and beliefs can stick with people or a community for a very long time.

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  46. I believe the theme to this short story is the inability to realize that something that may be a tradition or a normal everyday thing is wrong. An example of this is when mrs. Hutchinson said "there's Don and Eva" "Make them take their chance!". Even though Don and Eva were in the same family as mrs. Hutchinson she doesn't see anything wrong with offering them up to the lottery. This also shows how mrs. Hutchinsons character shows no concern or conscious because it's a normal thing for her and everyone in the village.

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  47. The main theme of the lottery is that not all traditions are meant to be kept. I know this because it states in the text how Tessie was nervous about the drawling and she begged not to be killed. This is important because the tradition was terrible and cruel to mankind , as surrounding villages realized it and stopped doing it. This is why the theme of the lottery is that not all traditions are meant to be kept

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  48. The short story "The Lottery" has multiple themes in it. The major theme of the story is that normal people can be lead to do terrible things. This is shown towards the end of the story where they end up stoning Tessie.


    In the short story "The Lottery" character helps to derive the theme.
    By the end of the story the some of the characters have changed their opinion on the idea of the lottery. Specifically Mr. Hutchinson did not like the idea of stoning anymore.

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  49. The main theme would be something along the lines of "Don't Blindly Follow Tradition." In the story, it was all about following a tradition that had be setup long before even the eldest in the village was born. They don't have any sort of written down rule or record of this tradition either, the only thing they remember every year about this tradition is that they use stones. This doesn't make what they do in the tradition wrong in their eyes.. as long as they just know it is tradition and has been for awhile, it's reason enough for them to stick to it without any second thought as to if what they are doing is wrong or right.

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  50. The main theme in the lottery is to follow traditions blindly. The peopel in the village follow the tradition of the black box blindly. The box was falling apart and people wanted to build a new one. Some people however did not because the box was made long before the oldest man in the village old man warner was born. each of the characters in The Lottery showed that they make up this theme. The characters never complain about the box needing repaired, they just go with the flow and keep the traditon going. They also don't seem to care about the box being rebuilt because it's about the town coming together and having fun rather than an old black box.

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  51. The main theme is that not all traditions are ones that should be carried out. Throught the excerpt many of the villagers state that the lottery is unfair, and not right. As mrs. Hutchinson is being stoned to death she screams and yells out."It isn't fair, it isn't right". As all the villagers are not for the tradition, they all stay quiet in fear, not speaking out against the wrongful tradition.

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  52. The main theme in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is that change can occur. In the story, the village has a tradition in which a lottery system is used to determine a victim of stoning. Even though Tessie is the victim at the end of the story, there is talk of eliminating the tradition. Mrs. Adams mentions to Old Man Warner that "Some places have already quit lotteries." Also, the language of certain characters at the resolution contributes to a solemn tone. For example, when they are preparing to begin the ritual, Mrs. Dunbar says, "You'll have to go ahead and I'll catch up with you." This helps determine that Mrs. Dunbar struggles to participate in the ritual, possibly from the emotion of the situation.

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  53. The main theme is that one should not follow tradition blindly. In the story, the villagers had mostly forgotten the reasons for the Lottery. They did not understand the significance of the black box, they were forgetting the rights of families choosing for each other, and it seems that there is almost no reason for the village to kill the person other than it would be "foolish" not to. Old Man Warner points to this almost directly, as he was one of the oldest in the town, but not around for the traditions beginning, but still encouraged the town to follow the traditions of the past, though it was most likely unnecessary.

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  54. The main theme in the short story, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is that even when a custom or tradition is followed by everyone, it doesn't mean it is morally right. The whole village went along with the tradition of the lottery as if nothing was wrong, even though a stoning is a brutal punishment. It truly shows how brutal this was when the Hutchinson's are picked for the lottery and the youngest of the family, Dave, still has to pick a slip. Even though the child is so young, the village expects him to take the same chance as all the rest of the members of his family. This shows the strong bond the village has with the tradition and that it can't be broken for anything, even the possibility of a child being stoned.

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  55. The main theme in the lottery is that as years go on, tradition continues, and the meaning is lost. Children were ready to throw pebbles without understanding why they were doing it.They werent taught the meaning behind the tradition, they were just raised to participate and do as told. Also Terrie thought it was unfair eventhough at the begining she agreed with the lottery and thought it was a good idea. She focused more on how the drawing wasnt fair rather than accepting the outcome.


    Understanding the characters helped me find the theme by showing what the characters cared most about and how they felt. Old man Warner kept saying how the traditions have been changing and how the children dont know the meaning anymore. How some villiages were getting rid of the lottery was brought up and also how some already did. Also the children havent focused on the meaning of the lottery, they just know its what they are supposed to do. Understanding characters and their feelings/actions is what helped me find the theme.

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  56. The main theme in "The Lottery" is that you can't be afraid of change. You can observe this from the characters when they talk about how other towns had abolished the lottery and they thought the idea was absurd. Old man Warner called the villagers who abandoned the lottery a "pack of crazy fools". The characters though and talked about change, but they never acted on their thoughts, which showed that they were to scared to change their lives. They just chose to keep a tradition that they didn't even remember the point of instead of changing it.

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