Use of Symbolism in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

1529 Words4 Pages

In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, once a year a person from town as to be sacrifice for a good harvest. Kids gather stones and put them in their pockets and they head towards the center of the town with the other villagers. As they gather around Mr. Summers brings a black box, in this box it is filled with many papers. Only one paper has a black dot. This dot will determine the family that would be chosen to be sacrifice. Wait I am not quite done, if a family is chosen they would have to draw again between each other to see who in the family would be stoned to death. As families went up there was only one family that was chosen and it was the Hutchinson Family, Mrs. Hutchinson was furious by shouting “It wasn’t fare”. As Mr. Summers put back the paper with the dot in the box everyone in the Hutchinson family one by one had to get one paper out. As everyone was finish getting the papers they all opened it one by one. The crowd went silent as Mrs. Hutchinson opens hers; she had the paper with the black dot. She tired getting out of it but it was too late. Everyone in the village gathered around her and stoned her to death even her own family and close friends.
Jackson uses many Symbols when it comes to the objects and even the true meanings of the character’s name. The author used symbolism to help the reader understand the main idea and why the town’s people do these things. Jackson also made it easy for the reader to understand why the characters have the names in the story. There are many symbolic meanings located in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.

Perales4
Mr. Summers name in the lottery represents the tim...

... middle of paper ...

...ngs of the characters last name. After reading this story and looking up information, it now will help know the true meaning of the lottery. Shirley Jackson did a wonderful job in putting the hints to help us understand “The Lottery” a little better.

Works Cited

123 Help Me Editors. “Names in Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’.” 123 Help me. 123 Help me, Inc., n.d. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
123 Help Me Editors. “Religious Symbolism in ‘The Lottery.’”123 Help me. 123 Help me, Inc., n.d. Web 17 Mar 2014.
Cassel Seth. “Symbols in ‘The Lottery’.” Flamingnet. Litpic, LLC, Nov 2005. Web. 17 Mar 2014.
Ma, Martine. “Literary Analysis Essay: ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson.” Word Press. N.P., 10 Jun 2013. Web.17 Mar 2014.
Pirate Teacher and Lentz. “What are symbols in ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson.” Enctes. Enctes, Inc., 10 Nov 2011 and Sep 2012. Web. 17 Mar 2014.

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