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Symbolism In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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Shirley Jackson wrote the famous short story The Lottery in 1948, a time where people often hosted these with cash or numerous prizes. The way the story is twisted, told, foreshadowed and characterized is impressive because it keeps the reader guessing, asking the questions, “Who will win?” and “What’s the prize?” That truly is the beauty in this story and how it keeps the reader on a hook like a fish, until that final pull to being on land, and in the bucket. The Lottery is a short story about an annual event in which one person is to be randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. By using and impressive display of symbolism Jackson uses names, objects, and the setting to conceal the true meaning and intention of the …show more content…

For instance the boy Dickie Delecroix is French and means “Of the cross” however the other villagers seem to pronounce his surname as “Dellacroy” therefore poking or provoking the Christian symbol of martyrdom, the cross. Another interesting one is “Summers”, the surname of the conductor of the lottery, now alone this may seem completely innocent and rather self-explanatory, however if you combine his name with the name of his assistant, “Mr. Graves” you can quickly deduct that there will be a grave in summer. Showing that not all is as it seems here in the lottery and that something terrible might and will happen to the “lucky” individual who prospers. Tessie is the winner of this year’s lottery and therefore won the grand prize of being stoned to death by family, friends, and neighbor. Tessie (short for Teresa, Theresa, or Therasia) has multiple meanings but two of the most common are “harvester” and “reaper”. Two important ones when you remember the saying “You reap what you sow.” This has even more impact when you remember that earlier she was perfectly fine with the lottery until her household was chosen and even in previous years when she had participated in the stoning of

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Shirley Jackson’s shorty story “The Lottery”, is about a brutal tradition that is followed by a multiple villages. In this particular village, the tradition is much faster when comparing to other villages because it only has a population of three hundred people. The “lottery” starts off when the head of each house hold take a slip of paper from a black box then whichever family ends up getting the slip of paper with the black dot wins. Then the family has to get another drawing for each family member; and in which the wife wins. Because she won, the town sacrifices her by throwing stones at her until she dies.

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In the novel, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson creates a small village with an obscure tradition that is gruesome to the reader but normal for the town. The author uses objects and characters in the story to further the theme. The use of symbols in The Lottery helps the reader understand the story’s theme by using average items to represent the darkness hidden within the seemingly happy small town. In the beginning of the story the town’s children make “a great pile of stones in one corner the town square” (Jackson, 278) and play around with each other, which seems like a random game that children would play until the end of the story when it is revealed that the stones were to be used to kill the lottery recipient.

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Shirley Jackson uses symbolism in her short story, “The Lottery” (1948), to underline that some traditions should be abandoned by providing the readers with specific descriptions of physical manifestations that correlate to the tradition’s existence. Progressing through the story, Jackson mentions the black wooden box along with the three-legged stool in the fourth paragraph, where “the stool was put in the center of the square and […] the black box down on it” (Jackson). As she continues to refer back to the black wooden box on the three-legged stool an abundant amount of times, readers can infer that symbolism revolves around these two articles. Symbolizing the yearly lottery tradition, the black box “was no longer completely black, but splintered

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Shirley Jackson uses symbolism of the black box to convey a theme about how a person’s whole life can change when one little implement is made different or messed with in the short story, “The Lottery.” For instance, Mr. Summers frequently spoke about making a new box, but “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (26). In conclusion, people are unhappy when tradition or anything in their life is messed with and changed. A 4th of July without fireworks would not be the same if it was removed from the tradition because everyone looks forward to it. Overall if one part of something changes then it ruins the whole system and it does not feel the same.

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Explication of “The Lottery” In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” in the final paragraphs the character Tessie is the winner of the lottery which ironically means she will be getting stoned. The author uses theme of the story to display how traditions are blindly followed for centuries even if they lack any meaning to them at all. She uses several metaphors and allusions throughout the story to convey this message. The significance of the paragraph is even though they do not remember the originally ritual of the lottery yet they do not forget to follow and participate in it every year.

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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Is about a lottery being held in a small town with 300 people in an unknown country. Every year a lottery is being held where one person is randomly chosen to be stoned to death by individuals in the village, in order to follow the tradition of stoning the person who has a black dot on the slip of paper. Jackson uses symbolism based on the characters name, objects and the setting to allow the readers to identify the true meaning of the story. Firstly, the names of the characters have a great symbolic meaning towards the ending of the story.

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Traditions are not always what they seem to be. In “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, this central idea is clearly stated through the use of symbolism. The text states, “There’s always been a lottery," he added petulantly. " Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.

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Symbolism and Literary Elements in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" In "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson we see several literary elements used to both shock the reader and teach a valuable lesson about the inherent nature of man. From the detailed description of the setting to the use of color and foreshadowing Jackson demonstrates how a writer can tell a story that reveals new elements with every reading. " The Lottery" describes the dangers of blindly following tradition and the harm this can bring both to society and to families caught in the trap of blindly following what they consider to be societal norms.

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“The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).

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For example, the black spot next to someones name on the slip of paper represented that they were chosen for death because black usually represents death “It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before” “It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her”. “A stone hit her on the side of the head” This proves that the black dot represents death because those selected with it next to their name will be stoned to death. There may also be speculation that the black spot may represent a stone but it may just be in theory that it does. A second example of symbolism would be the black box, now the black box can be used to represent many different things in the short story, the main thing the black box represented was how it was passed down from generation to generation (Literary 3) “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”.

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457 Words | 2 Pages

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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492 Words | 2 Pages

The Symbolism of The Lottery One big symbol that the short story is discreet about is the black box that is repeated throughout the short story symbolizes fear to adults which could affect even the most innocent. The black box appears to be the only paraphernalia that is still being used in the tradition of having a lottery. Mr. Summers is the one who is running the lottery at the time. Mr. Summers is seen as a nice man, however, when he is introduced, he is seen with the black box. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story that uses the black box as a symbol to convey an underlying message that when the power of a tradition is given to a person, it could lead a crumbling society.

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When the winner is selected for the lottery, the stones are used by the fellow villagers to throw them at the person. Each name of the characters hold a meaning for the lottery or one that indicates what the future of the unlucky winner will be. The lottery date is one of the main symbols of the short story. It is set for the reader to believe that the lottery is wonderful event like a nice summer day, instead

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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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Everyone has a different set of criteria when they decide whether a piece of writing is good or not. I have my own criteria as well. Although there are so many elements that influence an impression of a piece of writing, I narrowed it down to three; Is it open to various interpretations? Is it easy to understand? Is it realistic?

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