In Shirley Jackson's story, "The Lottery," by the fact
that the olriginal paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, but the people
have replaced it and put it into use "even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in
town, was born," there is a clear indication that the villagers are a flock of sheep who
blindly and unthinkingly follow tradition simply because it is tradition. For, if the
community had had any of a logical and reasonable nature, once the box and other
paraphernalia connected to the lottery was lost, these people should have rethought this
heinous tradition and done away with it as other communities
have.
Therefore, the mention of the loss and replacement of
the original paraphernalia is key to the understanding of the mentality of the villagers
who continue a ritual of such a nature. This mentality underscores Jackson's themes of
Custom and Tradition and Violence and Cruelty.
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