In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, while the lottery is starting and tensions are escalating, the narrator says “There was the proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory, tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year; some people believed that the official of the lottery used to stand just so when he said or sang it, others believed that he was supposed to walk among the people, but years and years ago this part of the ritual had been allowed to lapse.” In this long sentence, the narrator, an anonymous member of the community, reflects on the role that Mrs. Summers plays in the lottery. In the opening of the lottery event, there are many different ideas of what the postmaster should do. They say that he might be supposed to chant monotonously or in a more vibrant manner. They also disagree with what he should be doing during this chant. All of these details show that the people are doing the lottery just for the sake of doing it, not because it has any purpose.
While reading the sentence, it may seem like an insignificant detail to add to the story but this reveals much to the townspeople perspectives. Outside readers likely think that there is no point how melodiously the chant is sung or what the postmaster does while singing. But the fact that the townspeople think it is important to maintain consistency despite knowing what each option means shows that the residents of the city are following what’s done in the past blindly. The people are continuing just trying to follow what should be done because they would rather not deviate from what tradition has been laid out for them.
However while listing each of the possible options things that the postmaster should or shouldn’t do, they do not try to reason what would make most sense to do while chanting. Instead, they think about what had been previously done in the ritual. It’s not about what makes sense to do, but just what is the old way of doing it. The mystery of what the postman should do represents the mystery of the entire lottery system. Never in the story do they have a reason for continuing the lottery other than “there’s always been a lottery.” Even when it is mentioned that some areas have stopped this practice, they are called a “pack of young fools,” suggesting they are deviating from the old ways.
The Lottery tries to describe the terrible awful practice of continuing a tradition and refusing to stop it even if there’s no reason to continue it. The sentence captures what it may be like just blinding following a tradition. When one is no longer able to reason through why something is done, there is no point in continuing it. If a practice has no meaning to it, there is no point in doing it. Both of these situations occur in not just the story, but also this one sentence.
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