Symbolism In The Lottery

Symbolism in the real world can be evidently shown in mediocre objects, but in the short story “The Lottery,” deeper thinking is required in order to detect it. In “The Lottery,” symbolism is displayed quite frequently in order for the reader to better understand the story. It is not always perceptible, so context clues, evidence, and thinking outside the box must be put to use. Shirley Jackson uses the figurative language of symbolism in “The Lottery” to reveal the background of certain characters, objects, and events.

Winning the lottery sounds pretty cool doesn't it? Mostly everyone has thought about how excited and happy they'd be if they won. Well think again, in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," she portrays a different, more gruesome lottery than what one may imagine. To develop her overall theme of tradition, Jackson employs the use of foreshadowing, irony, and satire.

Traditions are in every family, friendship, community, religion, and culture. Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” teaches aspects of traditions and raises questions about whether keeping traditions is good or bad if they harm society. Throughout Jackson’s short story, traditions are displayed by deeply looking at the mirroring of archetypal plot patterns, and symbols.

Symbolically the battered black box represents the death that it brings to the community as well as a worn out tradition. The box is mentioned repeatedly throughout the story, which is a sign of its importance, although we are kept in the dark about its ultimate function until the very end. It is described as "…no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places [is] faded or stained." (Jackson 75). This seems to also describe the lottery itself- old, faded, and stained with the blood of all those who have died in years past. Ironically, the black box used in the story was said not to be the original box and the papers that they used were substitutes for the old wood chips. This is a sign that the tradition is so old and meaningless that it can be constantly added to or taken away from. "Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box…[and] every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done" (Jackson 75). Perhaps Mr. Summers's idea symbolizes a need for a new tradition.

“The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published on June 26, 1948. The story was initially met with negative critical reception due to its violent nature and portrayal of the potentially dangerous nature of human society. It was even banned in some countries. However, “The Lottery” is now widely accepted as a classic American short story and is used in classrooms throughout the country.

The black box is not only Alliteration, but it is also a symbol in “The Lottery”. Martine Ma declares, “The black box holds the key between life or death for every single one of the townspeople”. Inside the black box is a “slip of paper” (Jackson1870) with “a black spot” (Jackson1870) that would declare the death of a villager and the sacrifice for the harvest. The black box also represents ‘evil’ in “The Lottery”. Seth Cassel stated, “The villagers have become entranced in the gruesome tradition of stoning people.” Proving that the black box has manipulated the townspeople into killing their fellow villagers because of the lottery the black box

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is an extremely captivating and terrifying story. The author of “Jackson’s The Lottery” describes Shirley Jackson’s short story perfectly, “It is a grim, even nihilistic, parable of the evil inherent in human nature” (Coulthard 226). “The Lottery” creates an immensely eerie story by using the setting of a small town, the nonchalant attitude of the community, and the tone of the author.

The types of symbols that are used in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are literary symbols, such as the black box, which is mainly the central theme of the story since it symbolizes life or death for each individual in the town, but when we read the ending we find out truly the date of the lottery, location, and symbolic or ironic names of its characters all work together to convey a meaning that is even more disturbing than the ending (Yarmove). The box is a literary symbol because it represents the characters refusal to change, the box is old and splintered showing how they adhere to something that is familiar preferably than change and symbolizes the traditions of the town (Yarmove). Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers

Numerous critics have carefully discussed Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” in terms of the scapegoat traditions of anthropology and literature, pointing out its obvious comment on the innate savagery of man lurking beneath his civilized trappings. Most acknowledge the power of the story, admitting that the psychological shock of the ritual murder in an atmosphere of modern, small-town normality cannot be easily forgotten. Nevertheless, beneath the praise of these critics frequently runs a current of uneasiness, a sense of having been defrauded in some way by the development of the story as a whole.

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

In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, all the symbols in the story points toward one direction of the true human nature. Throughout the story, there are also many examples of Irony, such as the names of the characters. Although the society in the lottery is far from the society today, It can relate to “Allegory of the Cave”. “Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore,” (p.219)The characters in these two short story believed in totally different things but they both still choose to believe without any good reason. Symbolism plays a big part in the story. There are many examples in the story of symbolism including the title, events, and name of characters.

The black box is a symbol of the old tradition that is the lottery. To perform the annual event, this prop is crucial and has been brought into play for quite a long time. The text states, “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born.” (5). This scene particularly shows the box had been put into service long ago.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a terrify story about a small town and their traditions. The Ending of the lottery is the most shocking many of its readers have ever read. Why is it so shocking. Well Shirley jackson uses sybolism and simple narritive and her normal life to convey such a shock.

The idea of winning a lottery is associated with luck, happiness and anticipation of good things. In Shirley Jackson's story, " The Lottery", this is not the case. The irony of the story is that the winner of the lottery gets stoned to death by everyone else in the town. The story is very effective because it examines certain aspects of human nature.

Likewise, the black box is symbolic in the short story. It is a prehistoric box in which the villagers draw the slips of paper but do not want to replace it to avoid “upsetting tradition.” The black box is a symbol to the villagers because many people before them have practiced the lottery. “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson 1). Lending confidence to the villagers, the black box reminds them to trust in their forefathers. Not only are the stones and black box symbolic, but also the marked slip of paper. It is with a single dark dot that indicates who the next victim of the lottery will be. The dot appears to look like a spot or a blemish on a piece of paper. These are frequently associated with disease and so the marking of the dot symbolizes the marking of a person for destruction. The paper itself also manifests the pointlessness of the lottery; it was created by Joe Summers who though of it the night before on a scratch piece of paper with a pencil. It is this mark, made by a random human, that determines the fate of a person. The marked slip of paper holds no power, but rather the power that