Tradition or Cruelty in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson satirizes barbaric traditions in a supposedly civilized village. At the beginning of the story, the villagers seem quite civilized and lead a fairly modern lifestyle. This is what men's discussions about plantations, rain, tractors and taxes imply. The lottery was so outdated that some might think that this tradition is a primary competition between anthropoid beasts. On the other hand, some think that it was necessary to perpetuate the tradition. The question that needs to be answered is: was this a barbaric tradition or was this ritual an honest attempt to improve the lives of the other villagers? Shortly after "The Lottery" was published in the New Yorker, "a flood of mail - hundreds of letters - flooded both the New York editorial offices and the Bennington post office" (Friedman 63). Miss Jackson said that of all the letters sent, only thirteen were positive responses, and these came from her friends (63). The letters contained "old-fashioned perplexity, speculation and abuse" (63). ).It is obvious that the first reaction of the public was extremely negative. Readers perceived the story as a satire against them, as if they were practicing barbaric methods. Indeed, there are countless references, allusions. and blatant comments that reference the barbaric theme of this story The fact that the lottery itself was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. and only lasted two hours, conveniently timed so that the villagers could go home for lunch, shows that there is no concern for the "winner" of the lottery, only themselves. Children collect stones, compete with other children, and stop their friends from stealing their... middle of paper ... Although we are a modernized society, there are these primal animal-like instincts that persist. are hidden in each of us. After exploring the barbaric theme in "The Lottery", it is evident that Shirley Jackson intended to depict the barbaric aspects of stoning people in order to obtain bountiful harvests and to show the reader that these barbaric actions occur Today. Works Cited Coulthard, AR "The Jackson Lottery" The Explicator 48: 226-228. Friedman, Lenemaja. Shirley Jackson. Boston: GK Hall, 1975. Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. Modern News. Ed. Robert B. Heilman. Westport: Greenwood, 1971. 375-85. Magill, Frank N. “Shirley Jackson.” Critical investigation of short fiction. Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1981. 1668-1674. Nebeker, Helen C. “The Lottery”: Symbolic Tour de Force. » American literature March 46 1974.