Symbolism In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

In today’s world, there are traditions that are blindly followed simply because they have always been done. This phenomenon is also the case in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The short story is about people in a community who stone someone to death yearly since it is an ancient tradition. Even though they hate the tradition, they are afraid of what will happen if they change it. The oldest man even says that their entire world will change if they do not have a lottery. While reading the beginning of the story, however, the reader has no idea about what is going to happen in the end. They are led astray by the sunny, summer day on which the lottery takes place. There are some indicators of a horrific conclusion though. The mood of “The Lottery”

Spending hours as a child picking out the smoothest and roundest stones has been a time-honored tradition for many. Throwing a stone such that it skims across a body of water in a series of bounces is a very amusing game. Whether it is skipping stones, playing hopscotch or making a pet rock, stones can bring enjoyment to numerous individuals. It is odd how such a lifeless object like a rock can bring one so much liveliness and delight. What if, however, the stones were no longer used to play an innocent game but instead were used to shatter a life? Would there still be willing participants? In Shirley Jackson’s gruesome short stone “The Lottery”, a seemingly simple act of throwing a stone represents how complex and unpredictable the townsfolk truly are.

Most people have some sort of tradition that they follow, be it a family tradition or a morning routine, while most are harmless or have some positive effect there are a few that exist that are negative. This could be made worse if one such negative tradition takes over their life. In “The Lottery” the townsfolk gather for what at first seems like a harmless, fun tradition, a yearly lottery. But, as the story progresses it becomes apparent that there is more going on that first meets the eye. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” uses symbolism to show the theme: tradition isn’t always right, dialogue to get readers predicting and start to reveal the sinister nature of what was really going on in the story, and revealing actions to raise the

According to Helen E. Nebeker, most acknowledge the energy of The Lottery, admitting that the psychological stun of the ritual murder in a modern, rural small-town cannot be easily overlooked. Virgil Scott, for instance, says, “the story leaves me uneasy because of the author's use of incidental symbolism: the black box, the forgotten tuneless chant, the ritual salute to assure the entire recreation of the procedure of the lottery forget to serve the story as they may have.” At that point, they indicate fundamental weakness by acknowledging that Jackson has preferred to give no answer to her story, but it leaves the meaning to our imagination, allowing a good deal of flexibility in our interpretation, while yet demanding that everything in the story has been obtained to assure us how we are to 'take' the ending events in the story. Maybe the critical conflict depicted above comes from failure to see that The Lottery really intertwines two stories and subjects into a fictional vehicle. The obvious, easily discovered story shows up in the facts, wherein members of a small town meet to decide who will be the next victim of the annual savagery. The symbolic hints which develop into a second, sub rosa story becomes apparent as early as the fourth word of the story when the date of June 27th alerts us to the season of the summertime with all its connotation of ancient ritual. From the symbolic development of the black box, the story shifts quickly to climax.

A symbol of tradition can be something as innocent as a Valentine’s Day card, but what about when that tradition is a little more sinister? Within The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, there contain multiple symbols that reference how society does not let go of “how things have always been” with ease. In this story, a small town is faced with assassinating one of their own in order to maintain tradition, with a selection that is the luck of the draw in the most literal sense. Mrs. Hutchinson’s family ended up being drawn out of a passed down black box; it ended in Mrs. Hutchinson being stoned for the sole reason that she was chosen by chance. Jackson shows her perspective on humanity, showing how cruel humans can be when they are stuck in the trap of overused customs. This story was written in 1948, yet the symbolism is still correlating to life today.

Everyone wants to win the lottery. But in this village the lottery doesn't want to be in your favor.This is a mysterious and creepy book called The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, a small village in the middle of nowhere with their own religious beliefs.When Jackson uses symbolism in the story very often with deep meaning in each

Author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism, motif and great detail throughout the story, “The Lottery” in an effort to portray a ritualistic behavior that the townspeople call their “tradition”. The reader is left with the decision as to whether or not this “tradition” is ritualistic or inhumane. The townspeople congregate in the town square for traditional purposes where the Lottery will occur. The short story opens to a serene scene. “Clear and sunny’ morning, it sounds as if it is going to be a peaceful day but takes a sudden turn for the worse. The symbolism in this story is important to the message being conveyed. The townspeople’s ritual comes before any other aspect in their town even family. Family is one of the most important things in

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, every year a town has a lottery with the whole population included. Mr. Summers, the head of the organization, places everyone’s name in a jar, including children and family members. He will pull one name out and the person on the slip’s family will be drawn to have rocks thrown at them. This story might seem like a traditional piece of writing when reading it, but what message or specific choices might stick into people’s brains, and how can it be analyzed? Shirley Jackson, the author of “The Lottery”, utilizes imagery and symbolism to express that society controls traditions and all traditions have their own consequences.

In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, symbolism plays a significant role in explaining the story to the reader, including the two main symbols: the black box and the stones. The lottery itself is an obvious representation and the image it portrays is the unchallenged customs and ways of life which drive our general public. Jackson considers those things, yet are done in light of the fact that that is the way they have always been done. These customs can be something as basic as helping you replace a light bulb in a fixutre, yet they can likewise be much more critical and vile ways of prejudice.

Symbols can be used to convey a special meaning to the reader by association, especially when a material object is used to represent something abstract. Throughout the years, American writers have been using their works as a way to describe society to their broad audiences. As time periods change, writers as well as readers change their view about society. Several factors affect how readers view society in a piece of literature. To get a better understanding of the society expressed in a piece of literature, one must consider not only the time period in which the work was written, but also the life of the author, the style in which the work was written, and criticism of the piece. In Shirley Jackson’s

The Lottery is a perfect example of a short story for the literary lesson of interpreting symbols, allegory and myth. There are many symbols used in the story and countless ways to interpret them. The first symbol which stands out most of all, are the stones or rocks. Stoning is an ancient method of conducting a cruel and slow death. The stones symbolize the innate cruelty of humans. The people of Mrs. Hutchinson's community are so entrenched in tradition they have lost their individual qualities and their senses. There is also the black box which is suggestive of a coffin. The box is old and worn which suggests tradition which brings us to the deep myth that this is the right thing to do. The community is following suit – they have

The lottery the setting is in a small town. Every year a lottery is held in the village. The villagers would gather early morning on a clear and bright day June 27th for this town lottery. One person is to be randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. The lottery has been practiced for over seventy years by the townspeople. The lottery is symbolic story. Every event that occurs in the lottery represents a meaning. The symbolic ritual tradition of the lottery happens every year, an unquestioned culture event. The lottery is ongoing in the village because no one critically addresses the information or to question the tradition. In the story Shirley Jackson uses names and objects to reveal the true meanings about lottery.

Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery opens with residents of the small town gathering in the village square. The Lottery soon begins, during which each head of household is called forward to draw a slip of paper from a black box. After everyone has drawn, one family, in this case, the Hutchinson family, has a slip of paper with a black spot on it. The second phase of The Lottery then follows, as each member of the family comes forward to draw another piece of paper. After unfolding the papers, Tessie Hutchinson discovers that she has the piece with the black spot, and she is then stoned to death. Jackson uses a unique method of establishing the setting of The Lottery, different from traditional methods of American Gothicism. Staying with tradition, however, she fulfills elements of this type of literature through dark events and tormented characters. Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery both diverges and follows traditional methods of American Gothicism.

What do you think of when you hear the words "The Lottery?" Do you think of scratch off tickets, matching numbers, winning prizes, or becoming rich? I doubt when you hear it you think of gambling or sacrificing your life away for your own villages better crops. Shirley Jackson shows many examples of symbolism in her story The Lottery one of which being the name itself. The title "The Lottery" provokes a sense of wealth or completeness in life. The main symbolism examples in The Lottery are the black box , black dot, and the names of the villagers help to foreshadow the death at the end of the story.

The lottery fools everyone with how amazing it really seems. They start by talking about how nice it is outside “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer.” Then the end of the story throws you off by how awful it really is. The main idea of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is that if you win the lottery you will have stones thrown at you until you are dead. In each story, it is clear that the author uses symbols to show the violence and cruelty that people have. They didn’t want to get rid of the lottery because they don’t want to change, their crops may not grow. Some of the stories most important symbols are the stones, they use to throw, the black box that shows that tradition, and the paper with the black dot on it to chose who will be killed by the stones.