In the reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there is a village with a certain tradition involving the whole village to gathers up around a black box which sits on a three-legged stool. Everyone in involved grabs a paper slip out of the box, it eventually narrows down to family picking from box. When the last slip is picked from out of the box, that lucky person gets the privilege of having stones thrown at them. There are many traditions around the world but, are there any similar American traditions with similarities as the one in the reading? This idea will be explored in the next paragraph along with another question in a third paragraph.
Are there any American traditions that share similarities with the lottery tradition in the village? Traditions make a cultural distinction to every country in the world with many having them for years since the nation’s development. Most of the time some cultures have a set of rules that are followed to keep everything in order, so it wouldn’t be forgotten over time. But sometimes the guidelines are lost over time or sometimes it’s easier to finish a few things faster than how it was done before. An American tradition I believe to be similar to the reading “The Lottery” is Black Friday. It starts the day after Thanksgiving is celebrated usually. A group of people gathers up around to a store where there are offers being held. There are people who would go to the extreme for a particular item. It’s similar to the stories where people gather up around an area and find out what happens. Usually, the outcome based on who’s at the end it, it doesn’t end well. Maybe the item was damaged by all the rampaging and tossing around. There isn’t always a way to win in deals like those but it is what the outcome is. Eventually, you will have to just wait for another chance in another year where your odds are the best for it. The story has a few references to where it can be applied in any other tradition. It can be explored in depth with most other traditions but based on what I think it has similarities to the American tradition I’ve chosen. When have you made an important choice to break away or not break away from a strong family, friend, or cultural tradition? A family has its bases where they like to keep tradition close and stick to their routines. Most people from other countries when they arrive in the U.S. they like to keep tradition close. For me growing up in a Mexican household, there was a lot of learning of many kinds traditions. My favorite one growing up was Dia de Los Muertos, where we pay our respects and remember loved ones who passed away. My favorite part was watching my mom prepare most of the food and set up the memorial area in our house. I can recall a moment in my life where I’ve made the choice to break away from a cultural tradition and it was the last time I went to visit family in Mexico. My parents grew up in a small village located in Puebla, Mexico called Teopantlan. It is a very Catholic based celebration done in the village where they pay their respect to the saint and their own saints. When it came to those events I would find ways to go see a family member or walk around instead of going to church doing their rituals and whatever else they do. Most of my family would think I was being disrespectful avoiding everything but I wasn’t comfortable nor did I understand why they did the tradition. It was all confusing to me every time they have those rituals set out where it involves your family. I have my reasoning for missing out on those traditions every time I go to Mexico. My family over there will have to eventually understand that I wasn’t raised like them and I have different ideas of tradition. It is nice to see how they experience life based on how they were raised and see them pull off these events.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Edgar Ceron
Writing isn't my strong suit. Looking to make progress and hopefully it all turns out pretty well. Archives
November 2017
Categories
All
|