Theme Of Blind Adherence In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

World War II was a time of blind conformity with the Germans. Knowing this, World War II was a great inspiration for Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery.” In “The Lottery”, the theme of blind adherence to a tradition being a bad idea is enhanced by the symbolism of the names, objects, and numbers.
The symbolism of the characters enhances the theme of blind adherence. To begin, when everyone is getting ready to stone Mrs. Hutchinson, Jackson writes, “Mrs. Dunbar has small stones in both hands, and she said, gasping for breath, ‘I can’t run at all. You’ll have to go ahead, and I’ll catch up with you.’” Dunbar means stronghold. Mrs. Dunbar clearly does not want to stone anyone. She is holding out against the tradition. Similarly, when Mr. Adams says that some places are giving up the lottery, Old Man Warner says, “Pack of crazy young fools.

For example, after everyone is done picking and opening their papers, Graves collects the papers and puts the five for the family in the box. Jackson states, “He dropped all of the papers but those onto the ground, where the breeze caught them and lifted them off.” The slips of paper are disposable and represent the people of the town. The people are dehumanized because their lives are not valued. Additionally, as Mr. Summers gets to the ceremony, Jackson says, “When he arrived in the square, carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation.” The black box is a coffin, which represents death. The people do not question why they are killing others. In like manner, as Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are setting up for the lottery, Jackson writes, “The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool… Mr. Summers put the black box down on it.” The three-legged stool represents the Holy Trinity. Placing the box upon the stool is placing death upon salvation. The citizens blindly commit to this perversion of