The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Literary Techniques Essay

Literary techniques are used in all kinds of literature. They are essential to a good story due to the fact that they are what helps bring the story to life with details and images and the reader’s imagination. Using them correctly pulls the reader deeper into the story. Shirley Jackson used three main techniques in her short story called, “The Lottery”. She masterfully used themes, symbols, and foreshadowing throughout the story to engage the reader and add to the overall experience of the story.
One of the literary techniques Shirley uses is a theme of tradition. Throughout the story, it talks about how certain things about the lottery have not changed. For example, the little black box that they draw from has not changed. The black box was torn, discolored, and older than the oldest man in the village. “Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done.” (Jackson) Another theme she used was the theme of family. At the beginning of the story, you can tell how important family is to the villagers by how they act. When they first gather in the village square, they split up into their own separate families. Each member of

A good example would be when the little boys are playing together before the lottery takes place. They go around collecting the best rocks they can find. The young boys either put the rocks in a pile or keep them in their pockets. At first it seems like they are just playing little games and having innocent fun. However, when we reach the end of the story, those same stones are used to kill Tessie. In addition, Mr. Summers mentioned to Tessie how he thought they would “go on without her”. In my opinion, he seemed a little too happy about the idea of Tessie not being there. This clearly foreshadowed her death and it also makes you wonder if the whole thing is