Theme Of Allegory In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

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“The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson in 1948 is a provoking piece of literature about a town that continues a tradition of stoning, yet they do not know why the ritual started in the first place. As Jackson sets the scene, the villagers seem ordinary; but seeing that winning the lottery is fatal, the villagers are then viewed murders. Disagreeing with the results of the lottery, Tessie Hutchinson is exposed to an external conflict between herself and the town. Annually on June 27th, the villagers gather to participate in the lottery. Every head of household, archetypally male, draws for the fate of their family, but Tessie protests as she receives her prize of a stoning after winning the lottery. Jackson uses different symbols−symbolic characters, symbolic acts, and allegories−to develop a central theme: individual versus society.
The outcome of the lottery can be subtly be prophesied because Jackson’s placement of symbolic characters throughout the text. Any character, major or minor, whose very existence represents the main idea or an aspect of society is symbolic. “Old Man Warner warns us about the primordial …show more content…

“In a simple allegory, characters and other elements often stand for other definite meanings, which are often abstractions” (Kennedy 234). The lottery is always conducted by males, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves; and males are typically the ones who select the first ballot. “Men have a choice; women chose only when they are already at risk in the lottery pattern” (Whittier 354). Tessie can talk as much as she wants about how the lottery is not fair, but ultimately her say does not matter because women are never viewed as equal to male. Most people associate winning a lottery as coming into a large sum of money; but contrary, the winner of this lottery is a sacrifice. “‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’” (Jackson 257). Jackson’s use of allegories is sublime, drawing her readers to a main

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