Tradition or Cruelty in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson satirizes barbaric traditions in a seemingly civilized village. At the beginning of the story, the villagers appear to be quite civilized and lead fairly modern lifestyles. This is presupposed by the men's discussion of sowing, rain, tractors and taxes. The lottery was so obsolete that some might think the tradition was a primordial competition of anthropoid beasts. On the other hand, some think that it was necessary to carry on the tradition. The question that needs to be answered is: was this a barbaric tradition or a ritual and an honest attempt to improve the lives of the other villagers? Shortly after “The Lottery” was published in the New Yorker, “a wave of mail—hundreds of letters—inundated both the New York newsrooms and the Bennington post office” (Friedman 63). Miss Jackson said that of all the letters she sent, there were only thirteen with positive responses, and those were from her friends (63). The letters contained “bewilderment, speculation, and old-fashioned abuse” (63). It is obvious that the initial public reaction was extremely negative. Readers perceived the story as a satire towards them, as if they practiced barbaric customs. In fact there are countless references, suggestions and overt comments that relate to the barbaric theme in this story. The fact that the lottery itself is scheduled for 10:00 and that it took only two hours, conveniently timed so that the villagers could go home to have lunch, shows that there is no concern for the "winner " of the lottery, but only for themselves. Children collect rocks, compete with other children, and stop friends from stealing from their... middle of paper... Even though we are a modernized society, there are those primal animal-like instincts that still lurk within each of us . After exploring the barbaric theme in "The Lottery", it is evident that Shirley Jackson intended to portray the barbaric aspects of stoning people in order to have an abundant outcome to show the reader that these barbaric actions happen today. Works CitedCoulthard, AR “Jackson's 'The Lottery'” The Explicator 48: 226-228.Friedman, Lenemaja. Shirley Jackson. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1975. Jackson, Shirley. "The lottery." Modern short stories. Ed. Robert B. Heilmann. 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.