The Lottery Symbolism

There were many symbols in this short story. Many researchers state that several symbols refer to Christianity. As an example, the last name of one of the women, Mrs. Delacroix, was a French name meaning “of the

Within the first few lines of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" we are faced with such adjectives as clear, sunny, fresh and warmth. She goes on to paint a picture of small children just out of school for the summer, as the townspeople gather for the annual Lottery. This leads us to believe that the rest of the story is as cheery as the summer day initially described. We as the readers are virtually unaware of the horrible senseless events that lie ahead. Through the use of symbolism Shirley Jackson reveals the underlying decay of ethics that results from an empty ritual followed by narrow-minded people.

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.

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.

In her story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson manages to catch the readers’ attention and ultimately shock them with an unexpected ending; all of which help her emphasize her critique toward the dark side of human nature and the evil that resides, sometimes, in those who we less expect it from. Jackson uses symbolism throughout the story that helps her set the mood and also makes the readers wonder and analyze the senseless violence and cruelty in their own lives.

The Lottery is another story of a seemingly perfect town that sacrifices one for the sake of many, but in this instance, the sacrifice is in vain because it is just a superstitious tradition. The citizens of this town were blinded by tradition and rituals of the town even though many have forgotten why they do the lottery. Jackson shows this when she wrote, “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities” (The Lottery 1). It likens these common and cheerful events such as dances and Halloween programs to the sacrificing of an innocent person to better their year. The village seemed so calm and peaceful, but they were still inclined to sin and did not feel much guilt when stoning. The Lotter depicts a dystopian society because a person is being immorally killed every year and no one is stopping it. The event has become dull and repetitive but is still being followed by the families in The Lottery. This theme is very common in dystopian societies and is shown in the evilness of the Lottery.

The ending of “The Lottery” comes as a shock to the reader. The Ending of the lottery Tessie Hutchinson draw the winning ticket, and is selected to to be stoned to death.The fact that a town would hold this kind of game is atroscious. Part of the reason that the ending was so much of a shock was because the Author’s use of incidental symbolism left one uneasy. Such as the black box and how it was portrayed like a forgotten tuneless chant, the ritual salute. “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.” (The Lottery 1)While most critics see the box as the primary symbol the stool is referenced at least 4 times in the fourth paragraph. “three- legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it. The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool.”(The Lottery 1) The stool represents the trinity and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus was sacrificed on the cross Tessie Hutchinson stood on the three legged stool and was stoned to death. But at the beggining jackson sets us on track with some symbolism to indeed show us what is to come. Towards the middle of the story uses some chracter symbolism when it comes to the families. Mr. Dunbar is unable to draw the lottery today, so Mrs. Dunbar agrees to draw for him. However Mr. Summers say. “Don’t you have a grown boy that can draw for you.” Helen Nebeker put the explanation of this conversation extremely well. “In this seemingly innocent exchange the reader is jarred into a suspicion that the mentioned “grown boy” has been a previous victim and that his father cannot face the strain of being present, raising the question whether the breaking of his leg has been accidental or deliberate. At any rate, this loss of a son

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

Shirley Jackson wrote the story “The Lottery” back in 1948 to show us how ridiculous it could be to blindly follow certain traditions. In this story the author uses symbolisms to warn and prepare the reader about the gruesome ending of the lottery. There are a lot of symbols in the story and the main are the items, the lottery and the character names.

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.

Symbolism can be shown in many ways, sometimes it is shown more than others. “The Lottery” is a short story by Shirley Jackson that shows what seems to be a gathering turn into something far more dark. It begins when two men, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, hold a gathering that involves a black box. Children gather stones into piles and then stand next to their parents waiting for the gathering to proceed, which starts off normally. Mr. Summers starts off by calling the names of all the families in the town, and tells them to pick out a slip of paper from within the box. One man in particular ends up picking a slip with a black dot, leading to his whole family having to deposit their slips back into the box and restart the process.The catch this time is the holder of the slip with the black dot is stoned to death by the other families. Jackson’s use of symbolism can be seen by the black box along with the actions of the other families throughout the story.

can be interpreted in a different way. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short

Shirley Jackson 's 'The Lottery ', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery ' clearly expresses Jackson 's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery, ' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.

Symbolism is often used in literature to convey something or some idea with... well a symbol without openly stating it. In Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” symbolism is used heavily. To set up a tone that contrasts the initial atmosphere, to add mysterious feel to the story, and to hide what was happening in the story till the very end.