Slips of Fate -The Lottery

Slips of Fate In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author uses irony to expand on a theme of traditions that continue although they are ludicrous and barbaric. “Like a lamb to slaughter” comes to mind for both the characters in this story and the reader. The characters are honoring a tradition that is handed down to them from former generations. The reader is led through the seemingly normal and quaint little …

…the other person is his or her own mother, they celebrate that it is not they that are chosen. Although all life ends in death, in which fate may play a major role, we choose to believe that when the time to die comes we will have more control over our own destiny. More than Tessie Hutchinson or the other villagers do. As barbaric as it seems, the lottery will continue because it is tradition.