The Symbolism Of Words In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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. The lottery was not the average lottery in today’s world held in the United States. Shirley Jackson uses symbolic names, tradition, and the era of the storyline to explain the true meaning of the lottery. Jackson has given each important character a name that holds weight with the meaning of the story. All of the names are used to foreshadow small actions made throughout the story. Delacroix was a character who collected stones for other boys. “…Bobby Jones and Dicke Delacroix- the villagers pronounced his name “Dellacroy” (254). Dellacroy means “of the cross” in French (BehindTheName). In the Christian religion the cross is a huge symbol that represents persecution for the cross of Christ just like in The Lottery where Tessie is put at death. Mr. Summer’s was an old lonely man that ran a coal business with a lot of spare time on his hands. Mr. Summer’s name is vital to this

One significant object was this black wooden box. The wooden box meant death pertaining to the color of the box because mostly likely the shade of black signifies tragedy. The wooden box had aged tremendously and none of the villagers were brave enough to recommend a new box “No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (255). The wooden box really brought importance upon the time frame the villagers have been doing the lottery. There was also a three legged stool that brought some sense into the story. “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool…” (255). The three legged stool held the sacred black box symbolized how much longer there was to be