Themes And Symbolism InThe Lottery, By Shirley Jackson

Accordingly, "The Lottery" is a tale that is difficult to set aside. It is a story that every reader might feel both love and hatred. The story has the inner power that would probably create an emotion to everyone who plans to read it. In this analysis we will be able to know what figurative language that the author used and the unique theme of the story.

When writing, authors use various writing techniques and devices to better their story. From onomatopoeia, and similes, to mood and setting, these devices are what make the stories we read astounding. Atmosphere specifically is imperative to a great writing piece as it is prevalent throughout the entire story. From the first three words to the last three words, the reader is focused on the mood they are interpreting from the storyline. In “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the mood is what makes the story so amazing and helps us understand the theme.

Would you believe that there was once a village where everyone would partake in a terrible event, but think it was innocent because of how they blindly followed a tradition? The short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson communicates this theme by showing how the villagers participate in a lottery every year. In life, there are people who follow tradition because the have to, or they are used to following without question. The author, Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916 in San Francisco, California. In 1937, Shirley Jackson attended Syracuse University where she began to write short stories. She was famous for the short story, “The Lottery,” and her best seller novel, “The Haunting of Hill House”. Shirley Jackson was

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

On the other hand, the villagers stoning the winner of the lottery was used as a symbol of punishment. It is one of the most established and common execution methods. However, in The Lottery, the stones represent victory of the lottery. Shirley Jackson stated that, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson 291). Stoning is symbolic in “The Lottery” because, “For stoning to be effective it requires a crowd to act together. This reinforces the point that the antagonist of this story it is not a single person but society” (Gahr). For instance, this means that the immorality of the village is so severe that the antagonist is not just one person but society itself. How do you think the villagers feel when their children were caught up in this senseless tradition by collecting stones? It is obvious that the villagers were following tradition that was done every year. “What about allowing a child to be a child?” For example; playing with toy cars and trucks, coloring books and Barbie’s, or getting push by their parents on a swing at a park. Children should not be allowed to partake in an event so gruesome and violent or seen raising anything to aggressively hurt an adult.

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.

Shirley Jackson uses several literary devices in “The Lottery” to assist in portraying the theme of her story. Several examples of the devices used are: foreshadowing, imagery, symbolism, motif, tone, and dialogue. The main devices seen within the theme of the story however, include: dialogue, motif, symbolism, and imagery. Throughout the story the theme could be interpreted several different ways, however, the main idea is tradition. Tradition is sacred to many and meaningless to some. In “The Lottery”, tradition is something upheld only for the sake of it being tradition, no matter how unordinary or extravagant it may seem. These terms provide insight and textual evidence to help the reader determine and understand the story’s theme, being

Society today sees the lottery as an easy way to win a ginormous amount of cash just by buying a little slip of paper with a combination of numbers. The irony that Shirley Jackson uses in her short story, The Lottery, is used to the extreme by not only the title being ironic, but also within the story. The lottery is seen as a way to gain cash, but the ironic part of the title is that the reader sees it and thinks that the story will be about someone winning a big prize, yet the winner is sentenced to being stoned to death. Within the story, Shirley Jackson writes about how one member of the community ultimately chooses who wins the lottery. Another ironic thing about someone chooses the winner is that one of the communities sons picked his own father to win the lottery. Linda Wagner-Martin analyzes The Lottery and its irony by writing, “Bringing in the small children as she does, from early in the story (they are gathering stones, piling them up where they will be handy, and participating in the ritual as if it were a kind of play), creates a poignance not only for the death of Tessie the mother, but for the sympathy the crowd gives to the youngest Hutchinson, little Dave. Having the child draw his own slip of paper from the box reinforces the normality of the occasion, and thereby adds to Jackson's irony. It is family members, women and children, and fellow residents who are being killed through this orderly, ritualized process. As Jackson herself once wrote, "I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village, to shock the story's

To a first time reader, Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” seems simply as a curious tale with a shocking ending. After repetitive reading of Jackson's tale, it is clear that each sentence is written with a unique purpose often using symbolism. Her use of symbols not only foreshadow its surprise and disturbing ending but allows the reader to evaluate the community's pervert traditional rituals. She may be commenting on the season of the year and the grass being “richly green” or the toying with the meanings of the character's names but each statement applies to the meaning and lesson behind her story.

In "The lottery", Shirley Jackson describes every single character by staunch definition. It effects to changing character and explains exactly what happens follow through the lottery story. The author creates this story with the steady construction of the thesis such as the initial situation, conflict, specific statement, suspense, argument, and a surprise conclusion. By portrayed processes of character, the ending of lottery's bloody nature is highlighted, foreshadowed, and written to keep reader in suspense.

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.

What is tradition? Is it opening Christmas presents or is it spending quality time with family? Shirley Jackson questions the definition and true meaning of tradition in her short story, “The Lottery.” It is the story of Jackson starts by saying “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day”(Jackson 1). As the story proceeds, the reader gets a feeling of happiness.

Shirley Jackson, a novelist known for her distinctive short stories in the 20th century, was born on December 14, 1916, in San Francisco, California (Shirley Jackson Bio). Jackson enrolled in Syracuse University in 1937, where she started her career of writing many influential and widely-known short stories, yet one in particular stood out for its gruesome irony of life in the United States. In “The Lottery,” Jackson depicted a small town gathering for the annual lottery, where citizens participated in a raffle, resulting in the random execution of a member of the community. As a result, they would reap the benefits of the execution through their crops in the summer; however, throughout the story, the names of her characters and the objects she portray conveyed a meaning beyond the story itself. Jackson’s use of symbolism allegorically details the narrative’s significance to humanity.

The Message behind “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” raises many questions in the reader's mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. “The Lottery” expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind's evil nature behind old rituals and traditions. It’s a story about a wonderful small village, with an unexpected ending to a dark secret regarding very old tradition, the lottery. In “The Lottery” it is not what they win but it is what is lost.

Would you continue to participate in an annual event that could cost the life of a loved one or your own even if it possibly meant a better life for you and your family? When you think of a lottery is it generally in a positive aspect of winning a prize? Was that the case here? Did those who did not have their name drawn win another year of life only to be tortured by having to revisit this ritual again and again on an annual basis? This paper will attempt to inspect that symbolism, irony and situational setting to give a better understanding and insight into the mind of the author.