Themes And Symbols In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Almost every person in the world holds a set of traditions which have been established and practiced for a long period of time. However, some traditions often cause us to not see the rationality despite of the destructive nature it may have. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”, a sacrifice of one’s life becomes the “jackpot” of an annual event held in a small town. This society’s traditions have caused the people to do away with their rational thoughts and the values of their lives as they have become so stuck in their own cultural beliefs.

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.

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 is to be considered one of the best authors of the 1900’s. Her style of writing reeled in readers from all different ages. She can be creepy, hilarious, and inspiring to the eyes that see her words. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, she keeps the reader on the edge of their seat wanting to continue reading beyond the final word. She uses literary devices to shape her story to grab her readers attention all throughout the story. By using these literary devices, Shirley Jackson shows off her dark and twisted side as well as her fantastic writing style to emphasize why she is one of the writers of her generation.

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.

In stories there will be objects that will constantly be mentioned within the story. This is what is known as Symbolism. Symbolism is the use of object, name, or person to represent an idea. If a name is being use, a name such as autumn can represent the adulthood of a human. Creatures such as an Eagle, represents ‘Freedom’ and ‘America’. Even inanimate objects can represent ideas; the light bulb represents ideas that just sparked into a character’s head.

Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” warns readers of the consequences that come from blindly following tradition. She builds upon the fact that the people in the town follow the tradition of The Lottery without questioning it because it is tradition. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson uses suspenseful foreshadowing and portrays her characters as ignorant in order to suggest that blindly following traditions can lead to disastrous and even fatal consequences. Jackson creates a suspenseful setting in her story by inserting small hints of the lottery’s outcome in character’s dialogue and by dragging out the final lottery drawing to expand on the idea of how unfair the the tradition of the lottery is. Jackson expands on the idea that 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.

“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.

Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery", unexpectedly gives a different meaning that it is not what it comes to the reader’s mind when the title is first seen. The lottery in this story is utilized for an open stoning, in opposition to the primary thing that rings a bell when someone is considered as the winner of the lottery; a major total of cash or a good luck a person had. The reader sees both strict and allegorical significance of this story because for one side it appears to confront what truly matters to the whole story, and the other is the idea of the substitute being picked like a lottery number. The Lottery is held annually in an unnamed town of 300 people.

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

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

An allegory is a story where all characters and events are symbolic. Allegories have the remarkable ability to take a basic story and make it complex by adding a symbolic aspect, like a person’s name or a physical object. “The Lottery”involves a small, agricultural community, where they have an annual drawing. The winner of the lottery gets death as its prize. They believe that if they sacrifice a person, they they will have good crops. Shirley Jackson includes many symbols and allusions in “The Lottery” in order to convey her message: traditions can lead to mob mentality if they are not stopped.

This was a time where a lot of countries were rebuilding there nations due to the

Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is a realism story that was written for the main purpose of entertainment. Jackson writes about a small village that gathers every year for an event they call “The Lottery”. Every head of households comes up and draws a slip of paper from the box. Bill Hutchinson draws the first slip of paper with the black dot but Tessie Hutchinson quickly exclaims the lottery is not fair. Mr. Summers then puts five slips of paper back into the box, one for each of the family members, and has them all draw out a single sheet. To determine who will be stoned. When they open their slips, they find that Tessie has the slip with the black dot. Everyone in the village then begins to stone her to death. Throughout the story,