Symbolism has been scraping the surface of literature for many years, but you probably don’t notice them, unless you really dig deep behind the text. Symbolism can be anywhere from the diverse objects around your room that represent a certain time, to the books of literature you read in school. Symbolism is an object, which represents something else. For example, in the short story, “The Lottery”, Mrs. Hutchinson got picked for the lottery. The word “hutch” is another word for box, and she happened to have her life taken from her by a paper in a box.
The odd, short story of “the Lottery” is a story that should be read by many people for any urge to find symbolic references or to just kick back and read an interesting story with a twist. The lottery seems like something you would love to win, but not in this twisted story! Winning this lottery is going to take your life in a painful death from being stoned. The town’s people go every single year in a circle to draw their pick at a card. The card with a black dot chooses you to be the scapegoat of the town and well, you are going to have to get stoned to go along with the people’s clueless tradition. They go along with this tradition because, it was passed on to them and taught to them as children. They don’t really know the whole background story to it, but all they know is that they kill someone for a good harvest every year. The people don’t want to take any risks at not getting food for a year, so they choose not to stop the tradition.
As of the characters of this short story, they all have various symbolic references hidden behind almost all of the characters. Mr. Summers, a very
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innovative person with no children, but a man hosting and keeping the tradition going on...
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...ned. It is a very symbolic ritual that represents the “harsh traditions of [their] society, which many people carry out without knowing.” The harsh traditions are portrayed at the end of the story where Mrs. Hutchinson was screaming, “It isn’t fair!” while they are stoning her to death.
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Over all “The Lottery” is a symbolic short story throughout all of it. The symbolism behind all these characters in the story is remarkable.
Works Cited
Cassel, Seth. Symbols in “The Lottery”. Flamingnet. Litpick, LLC, Nov 2005. Web.TT Mar 2014.
MA, Martin. “Literary Analysis essay: ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson.” Word Press. N.P., 10 Jun 2013 Web. 17 Mar 2014.
SparkNotes Editors. “’The Lottery’ Themes. Motifs and Symbols.” Sparknotes. BAN Inc. n.d. web. 17 Mar 2014
Schedat, Lucas. “Symbolism in ‘The lottery’ by Shirley Jackson. “Reading Reaction. N.P. 26 Jan 2009.
“The Lottery” is a short story about an event that takes place every year in a small village of New England. When the author speaks of “the lottery” he is referencing the lottery of death; this is when the stoning of a village member must give up his or her life. The villagers gather at a designated area and perform a customary ritual which has been practiced for many years. The Lottery is a short story about a tradition that the villagers are fully loyal to and represents a behavior or idea that has been passed down from generation to generation, accepting and following a rule no matter how cruel or illogical it is. Friends and family become insignificant the moment it is time to stone the unlucky victim.
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.
There is no question what so ever that Jackson inserted a manifold of symbols in order to have a more profound impact on the story’s ending. Symbolism is an object, word, or idea that has a deeper meaning than how it is put into use. It serves as an iconic representation of something more emotional. Using symbolism lets the author plant a seed in the reader’s mind in which triggers a more profound reaction once the true meaning behind the symbol are revealed. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson there are a manifold of symbolic references that are used. It seems as Jackson wants us to question whether or not every tradition are done with good morality. As shown through this short story, many of the townspeople have a belief that their tradition is an act that would be approved by
“In a simple allegory, characters and other elements often stand for other definite meanings, which are often abstractions” (Kennedy 234). Since everyone in the town is involved in the stoning, they do not view their sacrifice as murder, but as something needed to be done. “‘All right, folks,’ Mr. Summers said, ‘Let’s finish this quickly.’” (Jackson 259). The young boys in the town are excited about the lottery, but the girls stand off to the side because it is in a boy’s nature to be brutal, yet the women of the town seem just as excited as the boys, and the men calm down as the girls. “The boys’ eager and childish cruelty will turn into the sober reluctance of their fathers, whereas the childish apartness of the girls will become the grown women’s blood lust” (Whittier 357). Most people associate winning a lottery as coming into a large sum of money; but on the contrary, the winner of this lottery must pay with their ultimate sacrifice. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (257). Jackson’s use of allegories is sublime, drawing her readers to the central
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “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” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
Death by stones just does not seem so bad anymore. In the story The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson uses a chance based ritual to have a small community come together. The celebration is call a Lottery which takes two days to set up and only two hours to be finished. The celebration is the bringing of a community to come closer to become a close nit nation. The celebration brings much joy, happiness, and relaxation, so much that even some do not take it so serious. The author gives the example that some villagers even forget about the celebration. However as much joy that it brings, misery comes along with it. Out of the entire community one person is chosen, They then decide if it shall be an honor or a course. Throughout the story many characters
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a chilling tale of a harsh ritualistic gathering conducted by people of a small village. The word lottery would typically remind someone of a drawing to win a cash prize. A better comparison to the story would be the lottery used to select troops for the Vietnam War; a lottery of death. Another would be the human sacrifices the Aztecs willingly made long ago.
Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery is a jaw-dropper to say the least. The abrupt change in mood from relaxing to horrifying completely blindsides the reader. However, if you read very closely you can see one clue which symbolizes death, and they all tie into the gruesome ending that Jackson delivers. The unifying idea that all symbols in The Lottery tie into is death because they are all represented as dark and gloomy-like objects and vaguely hint at a ghastly conclusion.
In conclusion, the use of symbolism, irony and setting in the Lottery is very evident, the author indirectly implicates the true darkness within the human heart. The Lottery remains relevant in society today because the overall vagueness of the city allows this story to be true to all people around the world. The short story shows us that humans are evil enough to follow traditions blindly, even if they cause pain and death in loved ones we know. Jackson also centers a lot of symbols and irony on religion and how they affect our culture and decisions. In this the reader can learn that sometimes it’s better for a person to follow his moral compass, and not just blindly follow his evil heart, and the evilness of others.
Shirley Jackson wrote many books in her life, but she was well known by people for her story “The Lottery” (Hicks). “The Lottery” was published on June 28, 1948, in the New Yorker magazine (Schilb). The story sets in the morning of June 27th in a small town. The townspeople gather in the square to conduct their annual tradition, the Lottery. The winner of the lottery will stoned to death by the society. Although there is no main character in the story, the story develops within other important elements. There are some important elements of the story that develop the theme of the story: narrator and its point of view, symbolism, and main conflict. The story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, argues practicing a tradition without understanding the meaning of the practice is meaningless and dangerous.
Many people consider “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson one of the best stories of the twentieth century. It is a compelling story that raises many questions and uses symbolism and metaphors to get its point across. Elton Gahr goes into great detail of these literary devices in his article “A Careful Look at The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.” Gahr begins by explaining foreshadowing. He explains that Jackson begins foreshadowing as early as the second paragraph. These details are key to the stories ending and “Most readers will miss the significance of those actions because they don’t understand them, but it makes the end of the story a realization rather than a surprise.” Gahr then goes into the themes of the story. One of the biggest themes being
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 symbolism in the story sparks our thoughts of human nature, tradition, and violence. The setting, the black box, the lottery itself, and the stoning are some of the symbols that contribute to the meaning of the story. The atmosphere in a small town on a warm, sunny June day gives the reader a feeling of serenity: “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson). The small village atmosphere of three hundred people indicates familiarity and history with one another in the town (Jackson).
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
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.