Theme Of The Lottery By W D. Valgardson - 1499 Words

The Tainted Future A common concept present in society is â€Å"today’s children are tomorrow’s future† however, when adults bring children into a misguided culture, there is a great impact on their destiny. Literature often reveals how children’s behaviour is a reflection of adult actions. This is an apparent theme in the short stories, â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson and â€Å"Celebration† by W.D. Valgardson. In Jackson’s, â€Å"The Lottery,† residents of a small village gather together for their annual drawing of the lottery. The tradition begins with the head of each household drawing a piece of paper from a black box. Once everyone has drawn, they unfold their slips of paper simultaneously. Tessie Hutchinson is this years unlucky villager that†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, it is evident that the children are born into this practice. Old man Warner, the archetypal tradition keeper in the short story, expr esses the importance of tradition in the town as another resident talks about how other villages have already given up the lottery: â€Å"pack of crazy fools...first thing you’d know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery† (Jackson 27). With this persistent idea that keeping tradition is exceedingly important, children do not know any other way to live. Self preservation becomes the only way they know how to survive as they blindly follow this practice. These selfish instincts are what lead children to treat even their own family and friends as insignificant. As Tessie is being sacrificed, her desperation for them to cease is obvious as she â€Å"[is] in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers [move] in on her† (Jackson 30). The hostile nature of this encounter reveals the genuine feelings of the villagers. The elders eagerness persuades the children to be have similarly. Throughout the story â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, a belligerent community is present due to the appalling actions of the adults. Furthermore, a negligent atmosphere is evident in W.D. Valgardson’s â€Å"Celebration† through Eric and