"the Lottery" and Religion

“The Lottery and Religion

Organized religion and traditions have been a common idea throughout every civilization

since the beginning of thought. All of these religions have had some sort of doctrine of faith or

standardized set of codes and practices that have been passed down through the ages. In Shirley

Jackson’s “The Lottery,” The author presents the idea that without questioning the practices of

our rituals, we lose the meaning of why they were conceived in the first place.

The first clue that religion and doctrine may be the main subject of the moral of the story

Is the use of the last name of Delacroix. The literal translation is French for “of the cross” but the townspeople mispronounce it frequently which signifies that the meaning of the name is lost. This could be the first symbol of how we today misunderstand established icons and rites. Another symbol is the black box. Nobody seems to know why, but the black box has been used in the lottery since before anyone alive can still remember. It is also significant that no one even thinks that the lottery can take place without the ceremonial black box even though realistically, any container large enough to hold the strips of paper would have done the job just as well.

Other details in the story indicate the willingness to change the doctrine according to practical needs. The chips of wood that originally decided the winner of the lottery were changed to paper in order to accommodate for the growing population. Religion has had a reputation of changing the doctrine to for political reasons, practicality, and relevance to the modern world for ages. Catholic monks have gone from praying five to seven times a day to having service only twice a week in some circles. This is because the services took all day and it was not a

convenient lifestyle for the parishioners. Another example of this in Jackson’s work is the chant

that Mr. Summers performs before the lottery. The chant had originally been said to be sung standing a certain way, or by walking around the townsfolk but the tradition had died and the meaning had been lost but the villagers did not seem to care.

“The Lottery” also contains a pagan view of the ceremony. The phrase “lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon” is a not so subtle nod to many of the pagan fertility rites. These traditions held that if there was a sacrifice to a certain deity at a certain time, then the deity would bring a bountiful harvest, good fishing, nice weather, or whatever the villagers ask for. If this is the