ipl-logo

Meaning Of Names In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

537 Words3 Pages

In Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery”, names held a high importance, and foreshadowed events. Each of the main characters names were chosen to have a specific meaning. In this essay the names of Mr. Summers, old man Warner, Mr. Harry Graves, and Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson will be analyzed for their meanings and the role they play within the story. Mr. Summers held one of the highest roles in the town. He was the one who ran the lottery, as well as any other event, every year. The lottery takes place every year on June 27th. This shows one part of how this character gets his name “Summers”. His name resents partly an old fertility ritual because the harvest that is being sacrificed to is being grown in the summer. Mr. Summers did many things to …show more content…

The black box which the town used for the lottery was made before he was even born, showing that the lottery had always been around. He is known as the person who “warns” people about what would happen if they were to do away with the lottery. The author refers to him as “Old Man” because he wants the reader to understand his age, and that he will know most about the lottery. Mr. Harry Graves was the post master for the town. He is seen to be the figure that holds the most power within the town. He was the one who swore in Mr. Summers to be the official to run the lottery. Also his name “Graves” brings about the thought that death holds control over everything. His superiority over Mr. Summers is also symbolic in the fact that it shows how the sacrifice and the lottery within itself is more important that the new ideas that Mr. Summers comes up with. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson are the two characters that drew the paper with the black dots. First Mr. Hutchinson drew the black dot, which meant that everyone in his family able to draw had to. Then Mrs. Hutchinson drew the black dot, which meant that she was the one that was going to be sacrificed for that summers “lottery”. Now the beginning behind the name Hutchinson can be shortened to the word “hutch” which is defined as a chest or compartment for storage, basically a “box”. So knowing this fact while reading the story. The reader might already be able to tell that the Hutchinson's

Show More
Related
567 Words | 3 Pages

Another symbol would have to be the town's setting which is described as “clear and sunny. with the fresh warmth of a full summer day” at the start of the story. The lottery is also held in the same place as many of the town's celebrations such as the square dances, the teenage club and the Halloween program which seems rather

Read More
468 Words | 2 Pages

The morning of June 27th approximately 10 o’clock in the town square where all town events occur. Today’s event is the lottery, which takes place on the same day every year. Even though traditions have changed the outcome stays the same year after year. The lottery may sound innocent and fun however it is not as it seems. Each year the “lucky” lottery winner is stoned to death by the people they love.

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

As Yarmove, Jay A from Washington would state “Not only do time and place bear important clues as to the allegorical meaning of "The Lottery," but the very names of the characters are laden with significance. The prominent names--Summers, Adams, Graves, Warner, Delacroix, and (most obviously) Tessie Hutchinson--have much to tell us. For the season of the lottery is summer, and the larger scope of this work encompasses mankind in general (for instance, "Adam" means "man" in Hebrew). "Graves" sounds a somber, forewarning note of what will happen to Tessie, and the oldest man in town, Old Man Warner (the others have either died or been killed of warns us about the primordial function of the lottery, which is to ensure fertility: "Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon' " (215).

Read More
520 Words | 3 Pages

Mr. Summers is stated as a “round-faced, jovial man” on page 15, lines 52-53. It seems that he doesn’t enjoy the lottery because he is described as sober. tPage 16, lines 78-82, proves just how long the lottery has

Read More
2065 Words | 9 Pages

Stories have always been something that we, as humans, enjoy to hear and read. This is shown throughout history and continues to remain true today. In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” she takes her readers through a whirlwind of a story, starting it out one way and ending it with something unexpected. She does a great job of writing, by implementing in foreshadowing, imagery, and the theme of tradition. When someone thinks of a lottery, it usually means that someone is going to win something, such as money.

Read More
1737 Words | 7 Pages

She chose June 27th which is the summer solstice and can symbolize many things like the other traditions that went on years before this one. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a warm summer day” (Jackson 1). This date was the day that many ancient rituals where held on reaching all the way back to hundreds of years ago. All the rituals had to do with someone being picked in a miscellaneous way to be sacrificed like what is happening in the lottery. “June 27th, near the summer solstice, one of the two days in a year when the Earth is farthest from the sun” (The Lottery).

Read More
593 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine a society where killing somebody for the sake of a tradition is acceptable. In the short story “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson describes an ordinary village with normal people, but as the story progress the details of their yearly practice known as “the lottery” unravels to be more disturbing. The author subverts the readers’ expiations by persuading the reader into assuming “the lottery” is a ordinary tradition until unusual details and the behavior of the characters come into place. In her short story “The Lottery,” Jackson seemingly uses ordinary details about the setting and the townspeople to characterize her theme that although society claims to be civilized, and may appear so, it is inherently barbaric.

Read More
881 Words | 4 Pages

Mr. Summers initiates the beginning of the lottery when he starts to list of the names of the families, calling them up to draw from the box. “‘Allen,’ Mr. Summers said, ‘Anderson….Bentham,’” (p 3). He continues to go through the list, with only minor interruptions of commentary from some of the villagers. The way that this story is written makes it increasingly difficult to focus on any character long enough to create any sort of bond.

Read More
1474 Words | 6 Pages

In “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses characterization, symbolism and themes to develop the action of the short story. First of all, one of the literary devices is characterization, Characterization in

Read More
980 Words | 4 Pages

Whoever draws the marked paper does not win. They lose their life and their family receives grief instead of the positivity that you would expect from the word lottery. The name of the man leading the lottery is also ironic, Mr. Summers. Not only is the event being held in summer, Mr. Summers is also conducting what is likely the darkest event of the year for the

Read More
457 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator states that in the story, “Just as Mr.Summers finally left off talking and turned to the assembled villagers, Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into place in the back of the crowd. “ Clean forgot what day it was,” she said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. “Thought my old man was out back stacking wood,” Mrs. Hutchinson went on. “And looked out the window and the kids were gone, and then I remembered it was the 27th and then came running.” This quotation shows that there is something going on because Mrs. Hutchinson is acting strange.

Read More
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.

Read More
467 Words | 2 Pages

The tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.

Read More
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

Read More
809 Words | 4 Pages

They revere the black box. Another use of symbolism is the lottery itself. The lottery represents traditions and ways of thinking that society goes along with because of how they are raised. The townspeople blindly go on with the tradition without truly knowing the significance. Mr. Adams suggests they give up the lottery like the neighboring towns, and Old Man Warner has to remind him of the significance saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”

Read More

More about Meaning Of Names In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Related Topics

Open Document