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Theme: often people don't realise the weight of their actions when participating in a tradition because of the perceived obligation to conform.

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Theme: often people don't realise the weight of their actions when participating in a tradition because of the perceived obligation to conform.

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Thesis: in “the lottery” Shirley Jackson suggests that people should examine their own actions and consider the traditions they align with. The villagers feel obligated by the expectation to follow the gruesome ritual of the lottery, allowing them to be overtaken by mob mentality. 

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Thesis: in “the lottery” Shirley Jackson suggests that people should examine their own actions and consider the traditions they align with. The villagers feel obligated by the expectation to follow the gruesome ritual of the lottery, allowing them to be overtaken by mob mentality. 

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“Mr Summers said, ‘some of you fellows want to give me a hand?’ there was hesitation” (jackson 2) after his question.

Mr summer was requesting from some of the men to help him set everything up. This quote suggests that the villagers are hesitant but still choose to follow orders. Mr Summers holds superiority hence the reason the men feel the need to do as he says. This quote allows us to notice the dynamic of the village. We see how the villagers feel obligated to this ritual, and are willing to help prepare it.

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“Soft laughter ran through the crowd” (jackson 4)

Tessie, AKA Mrs Hutchinson makes a subtle joke to Mr Summers as she makes her way through the crowd. Making the rest of the villagers laugh. This quote represents the glorification of the tradition, the villagers play “pretend” in many ways. Completely ignoring the inhumane ritual they are about to partake in. Not that they agree with what they are about to do but they feel the need to laugh and try to distract themselves from the terror they are all individually feeling. Each one of them could be losing a loved one.

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“They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously” (jackson 5)

This quote shows an interaction between Mr Summers and a man named Adams. Adams says hello to Mr Summers calling him by his first name. This quote resembles how casual the interactions are between each villager. These two clearly know each other well enough to be on a first name basis yet Mr Summers is essentially having his friend draw a paper from a box that could result in his death. It's clear Adams is nervous but he dusts it off humorlessly. Jackson is allowing us to recognise that the villagers don't agree with what they are doing but they feel as though they have too.

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Qureshi, Saira. “Arranged Marriages: Why Do They Still Exist?” Glue Magazine, 7 Oct. 2019, glueottawa.com/2019/04/30/arranged-marriages-why-do-they-still-exist/.

Haberfield, Meredith. “Arranged Marriage vs. Forced Marriage: What’s the Difference?” codeHER, 21 Apr. 2021, www.codehergirls.org/post/arranged-marriage-vs-forced-marriage-what-s-the-difference.

Canada, Global Affairs. “Forced Marriage.” Travel.Gc.Ca, 4 Apr. 2023, travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-info/forced-marriage.

Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995.

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The situation I chose to compare to my theme is arranged marriages. Arranged marriage is legal in Canada but forced marriage is deemed not, although many claim that it did not feel forced still to this day many are. In a forced marriage, parents, family, and community members may use emotional pressure, threats, or violence to compel someone to marry. The person may also be coerced to engage in intercourse or become pregnant. In some situations, people are forced to marry outside of their home country. Sometimes a person is told they are going on a vacation to see relatives, unaware that a marriage has been organized for them there. When they arrive in a foreign nation, their passports and money are sometimes confiscated, and they may be closely monitored to prevent them from returning to Canada. Forced marriages can sometimes be extremely similar to an arranged marriage making them close to being indistinguishable. It is estimated that over 50% of the world's marriages are arranged. Many religions and cultures believe in arranged marriages and have been doing it for centuries. It's a way to bond two families with parents' approval and a lot of the time it's for the families' benefit. In many situations the person may not feel that they are right for one another, perhaps the person has qualities that the other does not like or maybe their values do not line up. In worst cases, the partner can be physically or mentally abusive. These factors result in these people being incredibly unhappy and feeling large amounts of regret. The way it impacts their everyday life begins to feel exhausting because they are not in love. These people feel obligated to follow their family's wants and refuse to realize the painful road ahead. They feel stuck and do not want to go against religion and tradition, they have a fear of disobeying. Now, in some cases arranged marriage can have a good result. Maybe you do meet the love of your life and begin a beautiful fruitful life together. When people are so wrapped up in the religion and traditions they partake in they start to push aside their wants and needs and recognize right from wrong.

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When partaking in traditions and rituals such as arranged marriage it can result in unhappiness. The feeling of fear from going against a religion can eat away at a person and they feel obligated to go against what they want. Perhaps they feel as though if many have done it for years and years it would be wrong not to follow the same ritual. The difference between arranged marriage and the plot of "The Lottery” is there are no gruesome rituals but they are similar in the way that people are going against what is right just to partake in a tradition.

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In conclusion, i feel that Shirley Jackson was able to create an extremely impactful short story that had many interesting aspects giving room for thought. This story allowed me to see things from different points of view and dissect the meaning behind it. I feel that people do need to examine their actions especially when involving themselves in such harsh traditions. Religion in many ways is beautiful it allows people to have a sense of belonging and hope, so we must keep it a safe environment. I think she did a fantastic job at showing us how people can feel such an intense feeling of obligation to the point where we may be putting others through harm because we are afraid to disobey. I overall enjoyed dissecting this story and putting a large amount of thought into what the story was portraying. I liked the fact that it did start as an upsetting story but once I understood what Jackson was trying to show me I found it much more interesting.