“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson in which you learn about the traditions of a small town. It's not a fun tradition like decorating a Christmas tree, it's much more somber. Every year the town holds what is called a lottery where all the residents come together and one of the members, usually the oldest man, draws a piece of paper. If this piece of paper has a certain black dot on it, it proves fatal for the family, as one member of the family will be chosen at random and stoned by the rest of the town. This is a very dark tradition in which the whole town participates, including the children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There are many symbols in The Lottery that can be related to today's society. But the most important symbol is the theme of tradition. “The Lottery” itself is tradition and it shows that tradition, no matter how toxic or unusual it is, there will always be people who stick to tradition and never want change. In the short story, a town elder sits on the sidelines while families take a piece of paper from the box and he spouts things like "crazy fools" and "Listening to the young people, nothing is good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll want to go back to living in caves, no one working anymore, living like that for a while. It was a saying about the lottery in June, the corn will be heavy soon. “First of all, you know, we would all eat stewed chickweed and acorns. There has always been a lottery.” He thinks that changing the way things are done will only lead to chaos and he thinks that changing things is the start of something much worse and that soon the new generation will want to change everything and get rid of all traditions. His way of thinking is very toxic and is an example of following something without knowledge of it and only doing it because that's how it's always been. This is an example of how people today follow rules, traditions or the status quo blindly and without having their own opinion. Another thing to consider is the fact that the townspeople continue to pass the tradition on to younger traditions, and don't give them a choice if they want to follow this tradition. The children in this story learn at a young age that it is okay to continue this tradition. In the story, a woman gives a stone to a very young boy, the boy is the son of the mother who was chosen to die. This shows that in the culture of this town, most people are more than okay with the tradition, to the point that they will give a child a stone to help him kill his own mother in a very gruesome way . This plays on tradition and the danger of not changing habits simply because of a tradition. This relates to today because many older generations are stubborn and stick to their ways, and even more so, they teach and impose their thinking on everyone, including the younger generations. The final piece of evidence that shows the symbol of tradition and how it can relate to today's culture is people's fear and complacency. People may be forced to repeat the traditions they were taught even if they don't agree with that specific thing. For example, in the story, the family member who grabbed the paper with the black dot was the father. When he revealed that he was the one with the mark on his paper, his wife immediately stood by him,.