Symbolism In The Lottery

There are many lively traditions attributed to the culture of the United States. An example of a tradition is the holiday of the 4th of July, celebrating the independence of the United States. Another is the holiday of Thanksgiving, where thanks is given to the Natives that provided the Pilgrims with food. Then, there are lotteries, where people have a shot at winning thousands and millions of dollars. Lotteries always bring a sense of happiness and eagerness to attendees and winners. Plenty of people across the United States attend since a lot of money can be acquired from winning. This gives winning the lottery a positive connotation. Although the lottery tradition of America is positive, others are not so positive. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” the tradition costs people their lives. Therefore giving winning the lottery a negative connotation. Through depictions of the nervousness of the adults and children as well as her descriptions of the objects associated with the lottery, Shirley Jackson, in her short story, suggests the horror of violence that concludes the story.

In the short story, The Lottery, Jackson tells a rich symbolic story of a little village that practiced the art of sacrificing a person annually, to ensure the success of the cultivation of crops. One of the rhetorical devices that was used heavily was the practice of symbolism throughout the short story. Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas and opinions that the author has, and we see a various number of different symbols, be it an object, a name, or possibly even a concept, that can be established, in The Lottery, as the reader tries to make sense of the situation at hand. In The Lottery, Jackson used the name of characters and their actions to symbolize and depict how twisted and hypocritical society is, and also used the objects and the ideas that were practiced in the short story to show the shortcomings of a society that practices outdated and rudimentary traditions that hold no place in a civilized society.

by its unusual ending. The story starts in a unreal world without any relate The phenomenon which occurred in “The Lottery” relates to our real lives, it mocks our social relationships through the unique plot. The story reminds readers to think of their daily interactions and reflects the lack of democracy. Shirley used the conflict between different things to show defects of humanity. Trough Jackson’s story, she tells us a old, traditional village tradition—the lottery. Every year the village will draw villagers to be the “lucky” one to be killed by stoning. Shirley used this simple story to allude modern Americans’ in reasonable rituals. In the story, the village seemed

Thesis: The short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson found in Perrine's Literature written by Thomas R. Arp is a story full of symbolism.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story based on a fictional village that holds a macabre ritual. Although the regularity was not stated within the tale, the story speaks of a regular gathering of the village folk to conduct some form of lottery. In a disturbing twist of the tale, the winner of the lottery doesn’t get to receive a prize, but instead, suffer the indignity of being killed by getting stoned to death by friends, family, and neighbors. Mrs. Hutchinson is the unfortunate soul, who, despite her pleas and protests has no option but accept her fate. In a similarly titled story, The Lottery by Chris Abani talks about an incident he witnessed when he went to the market with his aunt. In the story, Abani explains how he

Symbolism can be found in many of the objects, places, or experiences around us. Believe it or not, symbolism may be found within a person. Symbolism represents an object that has more than one meaning within it. As an example, the color red may represent something hazardous or even love as well. Symbols can also be used in the battlefield to get through a mission, crack enemy codes, and even save a life as well.

Mrs. Hutchinson ended up being the scapegoat of the group.” She was chosen to be sacrificed and as the people were walking towards her to stone her they all gathered around like a cage and kept her there so she wouldn’t move or get away and just like any animal cage they do the same thing.

Traditions are set of beliefs and rituals passed down from one generation to the next. Although, not all traditions uphold moral principles and its followers would not think to question it. Through her short story The Lottery Shirley Jackson demonstrates the danger in blindly accepting traditions that need to change. This is evident through analyzing archetypal symbols, patterns, and character types. The story illustrates the harm in following traditions that contradicts moral values without question.

All around the world today thousands of people die from murder and the numbers increase every year. Our world is filled with violence and tragedies that keep increasing, just like in, Shirley Jackson's story “The Lottery.” The characters in a small village choose someone to stone to death each year because of tradition. As this tradition continues, more and more people die as time passes. All of the towns folk grow more and more nervous, hoping not to get picked. They gather in the town square to choose the person who is killed in this unfortunate event as you meet characters like the hutchinsons, Mr. Graves, and Mr. Summers as they go through the fear of being picked. As the children pile up stones that they use for the killing. All

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” published in 1948 portrays a story where people in a small village are stuck on old traditions. Every year on June twenty-seventh the village gathers for the lottery. Children are running around gathering smooth stones shoving them in their pockets. Mr. Summers walks in holding a black square box gathering everyone up, from the little kids to the oldest man in town, Old Man Warner. As soon as everyone is present. Mr. Summers calls everyone’s name as they walk up and draw a piece of paper from the black box. This year Bill Hutchinson was the winner, and out of his family his wife Tessie drew the paper with the black dot. She screams it is not fair as the crowd strikes her with stones. The black box in this story is a symbol for tradition, Old Man Warner is used to as someone who is wise, and the kids are shown as the village peoples arrogance. The author uses the black box, children, and Old Man Warner to display to the readers how people will follow tradition with no explanation out of fear.

there will be a death later on in the story. Another character we are introduced to is Adams.

Shirley Jackson provides her audience with symbolism as the prevalent piece of the bigger picture within her short story The Lottery. Taking place in a society that follows blindly to kill random people each year after they have been selected at random by the raffling off names. Over the years, symbolism has become quite an interest to people since people were first able to converge with other people around the world. Sharing and distributing knowledge with one another.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story takes place in a small conservative town where annually the citizens perform a ritual called the lottery. The author uses her story to highlight the effects of traditions on societies, and what general belief can cause people to do. In this story, Jackson uses several literary devices to develop the plot. This is evident through her various uses of irony, foreshadowing, and imagery.

We all have our own traditions, whether it is our family gatherings for holidays or making dinner for our significant other every night. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Day It Happened” by Rosario Morales they both bear the common theme of tradition, although the elements of fiction in the two differ greatly.

Authors use symbolism in order to substitute a hidden meaning within an action, person, idea, object, or setting. Symbols carry the weight to make a story more meaningful and can be used to help the reader make connections between the story and the outside world. On the 27th of June, a village gathers to conduct a lottery, where one chosen person will be stoned to death. This ritual, done each and every year, is planted in biblical roots and exemplifies the role of tradition within the town. This sacramental ceremony in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” has many aspects which all possess a symbolic meaning and incorporate another degree of depth to the story.