Shirley Jackson's Short Story 'Blind Tradition'
English 101
4 April 2012
Blind Tradition
Appeal to tradition is a common flaw in many of societies ignorant human nature. Staying with ideas that are older or traditional is often easier than testing new ideas. Hence, people often prefer traditional things. Thus, appeal to tradition is a common fallacy and occurs when time-honored customs or traditions are not challenged. This appeal is fallacious because the age of something does not automatically make it correct or better than something newer. Everyday society faces problems due to appeal to tradition, such as creationism, and this ignorance can be seen through many works of literature.
Appeal to tradition has occurred in society since the birth of mankind. The claims made by …show more content…
One of the characters in Jackson’s short story asserted, “some places have already quit lotteries”, though a person who was ignorant of change quickly rebutted her (130). Hence, appeal to tradition is appealing to readers because it is relatable; especially when inflicted by authority. An authority figure in The Hunger Games states, “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol 's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. ‘Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there 's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen’"(76). The districts all pay a yearly sacrifice to the Capitol in the form of their tributes, or members, and when disobeyed genocide occurs. Just as in our own society characters in “The Lottery” pass traditions on through generations. For example, “the children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles”(132). Though this isn’t much different from our society as kids are given water pistols and are taught to admire guns and weapons of mass destruction. Jackson and Collins are both exploiting a flaw in human nature and making a mockery of societies ignorance. The fallacious use of appeal to tradition is almost always ridiculed in literature without the notice of how commonly it is used in
4 April 2012
Blind Tradition
Appeal to tradition is a common flaw in many of societies ignorant human nature. Staying with ideas that are older or traditional is often easier than testing new ideas. Hence, people often prefer traditional things. Thus, appeal to tradition is a common fallacy and occurs when time-honored customs or traditions are not challenged. This appeal is fallacious because the age of something does not automatically make it correct or better than something newer. Everyday society faces problems due to appeal to tradition, such as creationism, and this ignorance can be seen through many works of literature.
Appeal to tradition has occurred in society since the birth of mankind. The claims made by …show more content…
One of the characters in Jackson’s short story asserted, “some places have already quit lotteries”, though a person who was ignorant of change quickly rebutted her (130). Hence, appeal to tradition is appealing to readers because it is relatable; especially when inflicted by authority. An authority figure in The Hunger Games states, “Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol 's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. ‘Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there 's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen’"(76). The districts all pay a yearly sacrifice to the Capitol in the form of their tributes, or members, and when disobeyed genocide occurs. Just as in our own society characters in “The Lottery” pass traditions on through generations. For example, “the children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles”(132). Though this isn’t much different from our society as kids are given water pistols and are taught to admire guns and weapons of mass destruction. Jackson and Collins are both exploiting a flaw in human nature and making a mockery of societies ignorance. The fallacious use of appeal to tradition is almost always ridiculed in literature without the notice of how commonly it is used in