The novel poses the question of whether traditions are in themselves good and asks when traditions need to be interrogated and changed. One of Vivian’s learning experiences is deciding when traditions have ceased to be useful and may, in fact, be harmful.

One of the aspects of life at East Rockport High School that Vivian initially accepts is that the school’s culture, and the town’s social life, revolves around the high school football team. As a result, the boys aren’t disciplined for their disruptive behavior. Cliques and social groups are decided in middle school, and students group themselves by identity. Lisa, Vivian’s mother, notes that the same culture existed when she was a student. The generation-spanning sexism suggesting that such things don’t change unless people challenge or critique them.

The example of the Shirley Jackson story “The Lottery” asks why a community might retain a harmful tradition. While she is uncomfortable with the adulation of the football team and the hierarchies at the school, Vivian isn’t able to perceive that existing culture might actually be harmful until she is exposed to outside viewpoints through her mother’s shoebox and the literature and the music of the Riot Grrrls.