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Critical writing of the lottery traditions
The lottery theme of tradition
Character analysis of the lottery
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Recommended: Critical writing of the lottery traditions
Traditions are passed on, from previous generations in Shirley Jackson’s “The
Lottery”. Traditions, which have been lost in time, but seemingly enough the stones have
not been discarded. Set on a village in a warm summer day, the story begins with several
boys gathering stones for the lottery. The rest of the villagers gather in the square. The
fate of the villagers is determined by a slip of paper chosen from the black box.
Symbolism and characterization, from the beginning to the end, work together to reveal
the story’s theme: that people blindly follow tradition even if it leads to their own
destruction.
In the beginning, the villagers clearly show how the black box is an important
symbol that has a powerful influence on tradition . As the black box is brought into the
square, Mr. Summers places it on the stool. The villagers act as if they are not at ease and
afraid: “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the
stool” (Jackson 410). Here the villagers display a notion of what the black box represent...
Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery', is a story that is filled with symbolism. The author uses symbolism to help her represent human nature as tainted, no matter how pure one thinks of himself or herself, or how pure their environment may seem to be. The story is very effective in raising many questions about the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. 'The Lottery' clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind?s evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of this short story with a major use of symbolism. Symbolism shows throughout the setting of 'The Lottery,' the objects, the peoples actions, and even in the time and the names of the lucky contestants.
The story belies the villagers respect for tradition. The lottery official was said to have spoken ?frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.? (Jackson 367) We know that the black box was not the original vessel for the lottery. Many changes and omissions from lotteries past also, speak of the villagers? apathy for tradition.
A reason the box symbolizes the town is because of the way the box is handled . Literary critics and author of American writers Jay Parini concur “The box is only handled by the men of the village.” (Parini 122). Mr. Summers, the conductor of the lottery, is in charge of the box. Just like the box, the town is male dominated. Throughout the entire story the men are in charge. It is the men who help out Mr. Summers by holding the box steady while he stirs the papers inside the box and he specifically calls for “some of you fellows” (Jackson 1) addressing the men standing by him. Also the men are the ones who draw up the lists of families while the women wait patiently a distance away. Furthermore, it is the“heads of household” who draw for their families. If the man of the family is unable to draw, then a son can draw in his place. A woman is allowed to draw for the family only on the occasion that no other man is able to draw (Perini 123). A...
When most people play the lottery today, they think about having wealth. Generally, people who win are happy about it whether they win one dollar or a million. The lottery in our society has grown to support education and it is often worth several million dollars. Usually, the winner of the lottery gains a lot of recognition for the money they win. But what would happen if there was a small town where people held a yearly lottery in which the “winner” was the member of the town who was not sacrificed? This question is answered in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery.” In reading this story, and reading literary criticism about the story, there were many symbols and much symbolism in this story.
The story opens by embracing the reader with a relaxed setting, giving the anticipation for an optimistic story. “…with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green (p.445).”
The box is symbolic of our loathing of change; it is old and splintered showing
The town has a black box which is the center of their tradition. The box is a faded black and black represents death which is appropriate because whoever “wins” the lottery is stoned to death. They have had it for so many years that it is splintered and falling apart. But they will not replace it because it is said that the box was made from pieces of the original box before it. But yet they keep the box in random places when it is not in use for the rest of the year. They still fear the box and what it means yet enough time has passed that they really don’t take the time to store it in someplace with
Black can also be a condition of rebellion, terror, mystery, strength, authority, elegance, formality, evil, vicious, power and a lot of the times thought of as death. The ritual in this story is a lottery where everyone in the town gathers to pick a piece of paper out of a black box. The black box that has been passed down from a long line of ancestors, it is symbolic because it represents death. One member from each family in the village comes up and picks a piece of paper from the black box.
The lottery begins on June 27 in the village square as the villagers are beginning to pour in for the annual town lottery Children play, collect stones and begin to make a pile in the town square. The men and women soon follow slowly. Mr. Summer, the coordinator of the lottery, enters the village square with a black box followed by Mr. Graves. The reader is informed that the lottery use to be conducted on wood chips but Mr. Summers eventually confidence the village to switch to small pieces of paper. The crowd grows silent as Mr. Summers approaches the black box and begins to mix the paper within it around. Simultaneously the reader is introduced to Tessie Hutchinsons, a village member, as she joins her family in preparation for the lottery. Mr. Summers restates the lottery rules; the head of the family will come draw from the box plus no one open their piece of paper until everyone has picked one; and then declares the lottery open. One by one a person from each family approaches the box and draws one piece of paper. They slowly return to their place in the crowd and wait to reveal their luck. Mr. Summers completes the calling of names, instructs everyone to open his or her paper and to look for a black mark. Very quickly the villagers begin to converse asking “who got it”. It is s...
The short story “ The Lottery ” the author Shirley Jackson uses symbolism and imagery to develop a theme the brings forth the evil and inhumane nature of tradition and the danger of when it’s carried out with ignorance.
“The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” (Jackson, 1).
In fact, the black box and the three-legged stool go hand in hand. They represent the danger of blindly following traditions no matter what the cost. It is also made apparent that the villagers of this town do not know the origin of the lottery, but they still continue to follow the tradition (Nebeker, 171-173). The villagers keep their distance from the box in order to secure their fate. The reason the three-legged stool and the black box go hand in hand is because the box sits on the three-legged stool for support. Together, this represents the manipulation of religion to support collective violence (Nebeker, 171-173). This representation in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", adds a cult-like theme to the story. Helen Nebeker argues that the cult theme is apparent and represented in the three legs of the stool which depicts the Holy Trinity in Christianity, God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It can also mean that the lottery will always follow the tradition of the villagers because the three legs on the stool also mean the past, the present and the future. The correlation between the two is ironic because the Christian Trinity represents holiness and purity, while the black box represents evil, death and
The objects in the story also represent religious and symbolic meanings to the lottery. This sentence “ Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones;” (Jackson,2) shows that young kids were picking up smooth stones. Most rocks are jagged, knife-like, and tapered. The reason they were picking up the smoothest stones because jagged rocks would most
In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" symbols are used to enhance and stress the theme of the story. A symbol is a person, object, action, place, or event that in addition to its literal meaning, suggests a more complex meaning or range of meanings. (Kirszner & Mendell 330) The theme of the story is how coldness and lack of compassion can be exhibited in people in situations regarding tradition and values. That people will do incredibly evil and cruel things just for the sake of keeping a routine. Three of the main symbols that Shirley uses in the story is the setting, black box, and the actual characters names. They all tie together to form an intriguing story that clearly shows the terrible potential if society forgets the basis of tradition. The story also shows many similarities between the culture of the village, and the culture of Nazi Germany. How blind obedience to superiors can cause considerable damage to not only a community, but the entire world. Symbolism plays a large role in "The Lottery" to set the theme of the story and make the reader question traditions.
“Indeed she focuses on the underlying theme--the role of tradition in man's life--but fails to consider the symbolism prevailing in the main theme--man's recurrent need of a victim” (Schaub 1).... ... middle of paper ... ... Jackson, Shirley.