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How Does Shirley Jackson Use Symbols In The Lottery

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Symbolism in stories is used to represent an idea or a concept that differs from their literal meaning. Shirley Jackson utilizes symbolism within her short story "The Lottery" which takes place in a small town of 300 people, who are preparing for a lottery to occur. Jackson's use of symbolism is supposed to show us that not all tradition is positive and leaves us content. Jackson displays the dark side of tradition within "The Lottery" by using symbols such as the characters behaviors, the black wooden box, and the stones. Throughout the story, we are introduced to a variety of characters each of whom gives the reader a queasy feeling. The story is set at the beginning of summer. Normally summer is a fun time but the children in this
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This proves that blindly following tradition can be dangerous. The author supports this theme by using symbolism in the black box and stones. First of all, Shirley Jackson uses symbolism by describing the black box. Black usually symbolises death and hardship which proves true in this story. It was also described as splintered and faded.

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There is more than the eye can see. In “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, some items and people have deeper meanings than others. Stones represent sin, a trinity is represented by a stool, and a color represents death. In “The Lottery,” Jackson uses humans and objects to symbolize the Christian religion.

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Many writers use literature as a way to write about current issues in their time period in a euphonious way; a way to talk about the issues without directly mentioning them. Shirley Jackson illustrates the underrated issues in an ancient traditional society in "The Lottery. " In the short story, "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, the author uses meaningful symbols throughout the story to connect the historical and social influence of the town.

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The Lottery's use of Symbolism The short story, Lottery written by Shirley Jackson delineates a tradition which involves the whole city to be present, where one person chooses a name out of the black box and the whole town throws stones at that one person, this occurs every June 27. Through her story she was able to use “The Black Box” and “The Lottery” as a way of symbolism throughout the story.

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In 1948, when the New Yorker published Shirley Jacksons piece, “The Lottery,” it sparked outrage among readers, but could arguably be known as one of her most famous pieces of writing. In this short story, Shirley Jackson used literally elements such as imagery, diction, and symbolism to foreshadow the negative and harsh ending of the story; the harsh ending that sparked such outrage by society in the 1940’s. One of the main ways Jackson foreshadows the ending and true meaning of her short story, “The Lottery,” is through symbolism. Jackson uses the color black throughout the story.

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The short story “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson, the plot in the story that it only gives people an account of drawing lots to determine the winner who shall be stoned to death for harvest. However, we get a deep impression of the characters and their fate after reading the story. Jackson indicated a prevalent theme, the indirect of characterization and using symbolism and irony to modify this horror story. The Allegorical story of “ The Lottery” is often regarded as a satire of human behavior and social institutions, and exemplifies some of the central themes of Jackson’s fiction, including the victimization of the individual by society, the tendency of people to be cruel, and the presence of evil in everyday life.

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In “The Lottery” Jackson uses a black box to symbolize death, Jackson says “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been long lost ago,and the black box now had been resting on the stool. It had been there even before old man Warner”(Jackson 1).This shows symbolism because it shows how old the black box really is. The reader of “The Lottery” can tell that author is using symbolism. In the beginning, Shirley Jackson says “the original paraphernalia had been long lost ago”.(Jackson 1). Jackson also says “They always had spoke of making a new box but no one ever wanted to.

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What is a Lottery? The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is about a lottery held in a small town. The lottery took place in New England around World War II. The lottery was held each year resulting with a stoned death.

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In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing when the children are collecting stones from the river and putting them into piles. It hints that something bad is going to happen because it is unusual for boys to be grabbing stones and randomly put them into a pile. For example, while the towns people were getting ready for the lottery the narrator states, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example,selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix, eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.” (Jackson). This quotation shows that the boys in the village are finding the smoothest and roundest stones and putting them into a big pile.

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3/8/2017 The lottery essay Anan Istetieh Anticipation mingled with uncertainty, better known, as suspense, is an inevitable quality of human nature. Suspense is occasionally a great mechanism. It allows the author to keep the readers alert and leads up to the element of surprise, which is a successful writing tool that makes a story more enjoyable. The story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson builds up suspense through the foreshadowing of a horrible moment, creating a character that stands out from the crowd all while withholding the true nature of the story. The author of “The Lottery” foreshadowed the horrible climax of the story by explaining how the children were recently released from school for the summer, but they felt discomfort, “and

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152 Words | 1 Pages

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the author has demonstrated each symbol and the meaning that holds behind them. The black box is culturally known as a dark and evil color. It represents the fate of the people in town, and the three-legged stool is used as a support for the black box to lay on top of the object. Stoning is ancient.

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147 Words | 1 Pages

In the lottery Shirley Jackson used foreshadowing to hint that a person would be stoned. “For example while the children were collecting stones in the street the author says Bobby Martin has already stuffed his pockets with stones”. This shows that the children were preparing for the stoning. Therefour this shows the excitement the children had for the lottery. Jackson 's use of for foreshadowing in the lottery contributed to the story by building suspense.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

Shirley Jackson’s “The lottery” is a story based on tradition. When hearing the word tradition, most people think of team rituals before games, or something families do together annually. However, Jackson is obviously not like most people. She builds up a fair amount of tension around this ritual that is taking place to make readers wonder what is going on. She uses many different techniques to show that sometimes, traditions are not always meant to go on forever.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

While other towns are starting to go away from this method, this village continues the tradition. Although it may seem like a simple story, Shirley Jackson implemented various symbols incorporated into the names, objects, and scenario in the story to hide the meaning and intention behind the lottery. Firstly, the names alone conceal a lot of symbolism. The author utilizes symbolic names to indicate reason

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918 Words | 4 Pages

“To put symbolism into a definition, it is when an object or an action has many layers of meaning in a story. These meanings may not be apparent at first glance, but will become more clear as they are considered throughout the story. The object or action’s meaning will be something other than simply it’s literal meaning” (Heichel). Symbolism plays a critical role in both “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Furthermore, the authors of both stories incorporated objects such as a black box and a mockingjay to have a much deeper meaning than their obvious literal meaning.

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