Symbolism in “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story filled with an immense amount of symbolism used in a way that conveys to readers the evil nature of society and traditions. Every year the community gathers to select a winner for the year’s lottery and this year it is Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson who is the lucky winner to be stoned to death. The story begins in a setting so real it could have taken place any where right here in America but it does not give an exact location. This signifies that these evils of humanity and tradition that take place in the story can take place any where we live. The time period the event occurs in is not stated either, signifying that such cruel acts can take place at any time.
The lottery is a reaper of some sort that every year, claims the life of an innocent soul. Jackson confuses the reader with her lively tone, but reels them back in with the small, but meaningful gestures and comments from the town’s people. The villagers accept this form of death because it is the only thing that they know. The tradition of the lottery has been drilled down for so long that Old Man Warner, the oldest of the town, doesn’t know any better. Another form of symbolism is the black box that sits upon the three-legged stool.
The consequences of groupthink are rampant in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery”. In, “The Lottery”, Jackson presents many symbolic messages and themes that illustrate what happens when a society succumbs to groupthink in order to warn us of the dangers of not being our own critical thinkers and idly accepting things at face-value. The setting of “The Lottery” takes place on a warm and sunny day on June 27th. “The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson). Every year during this time the residents of the village participate in a lottery.
Traditions, Logical or Illogical Writers often use symbols to help convey underlying themes and ideas. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery is a perfect example of a story that can be so loosely interpreted or misunderstood without understanding the stories symbols and underlying themes. At a glance “The Lottery” is just a story about an unusual and morbid village whose people share the love for murder. By analyzing the short story’s symbols, the story becomes much more than a morbid village full of pointless hate. The lottery itself, the black box, family, and the lottery rules are all symbols that build the underlying theme of the story, tradition.
The setting is one symbol used in the story. The lottery takes place in a normal town on a beautiful day. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with a fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green” (140). This would make readers think something good
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a literary writing because it is a story that entertains the reader and is metaphorical but also, possibly reality driven. The beginning of the writing leads the reader to believe that the lottery is a fun event that the community takes part in together every year; it almost seemed as though the lottery was similar to a fair event. A literary writing not only examines human existence but it also describes human life with a bit of originality. This particular literary writing examines the community in their strive to be like the traditional community of the past. Mr. Warner, who was the oldest man in town, continually made remarks stating that the lottery was not done like it originally was when he was growing
Sam Brewer, 4th Hour Symbolism “Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance that it overflows upon the outward world.” (Hawthorne 168). The book The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne gives many perspectives in the lives of a village in the mid-evil times. Where bible was the law, sin can be correlated to crimes. Symbolism plays the main factor in this Novel. Symbolism is an idea brought up by the author to show meaning to a certain object, whether that’s a human or an everyday object.
“Mr. Summers, a jovial man who conducts the lottery ceremony, sets the tone of the event with both his name and his mannerisms” (Griffin). On the other hand his assistant, Mr. Graves’ “[hints] at a dark undertone” and his name is also a forewarning note of what will happen to the “winner” of the lottery (Griffin). Mrs. Delacroix- or “Dellacroy” as the villagers would call her- also plays a significant role. “In French, ‘Delacroix’ means ‘of the cross,” and the mispronunciation shows the villagers spoiling the traditional Christian understanding of the Crucifixion (Cervo).
In Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery,” Jackson displays the fear of the lottery in the villagers by using symbolism, word choice, and sentence structure. Symbolism [Mr. Summers and Mr. Adams] grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd. Where he stood a little apart from his family.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Author Shirley Jackson delivers a great deal of mystery, suspense and even eeriness throughout the short story The Lottery. Imagery, symbolism and in-depth writing grants the reader visual and emotional access into the exceptionally small village of about 300 people, where the lottery takes place every year on June 27th. The formalistic critical approach can be used to develop a sense of atmosphere, time, and place all of which are shown through symbols and description. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” With the color of the grass representing growth, and the sun signifying energy