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 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).
Objects like the stones, black box and the slips of paper have significant meanings. The stones are the weapons used in the story, which correlates to the religious texts of stoning being a strong punishment. “The children had stones already. And someone even gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.” (Jackson 7) Even Mrs. Hutchinson’s son had stones that he would throw at his mother; showing inhumane actions that people in society are capable of. The black box signifies the history of the tradition and death. Death is usually correlated with the color of black and the black box holds the papers that signals who is on the path of death. “No one liked to upset even as much tradition was represented by the black box.” (Jackson 5) The box was only brought once a year and began to lose it color and shape but the villagers kept it because they were afraid to change the long-standing tradition that brought
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...
The story begins with a small town on a beautiful sunny day showing the children innocently collecting rocks near the town square, but was it an innocent act? The lottery would start around 10 o'clock. This gave the villagers just enough time to complete the process and return home for lunch. The townspeople start to gather at the town square in anticipation of the yearly lottery, but the talk amongst them isn't about who will be stoned shortly but about planting, tractors, paying taxes and plentiful rain. Mr. Summers then approaches the crowd holding the black box that encloses little white pieces of paper with one of them concealing the black dot. Mr. Summers was the only one “who had time and energy to devote to civic activities,” (p.204). Following right behind him was the postmaster Mr. Graves who carried the 3-legged stool to the square where the black box would rest atop. Once all the villagers were present and the box was in place, the lottery could begin. Mr. Summers announces, “'Here,' a sudden hush fell on the crowd...'all ready?' 'Now, I'll read the names-heads of families first-and the men come up and tale a piece of paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand...
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).”
on a beautiful summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very
The lottery consists of a black box full of blanks pieces of paper and one marked piece of paper. The person who draws the marked piece of paper is the one who endures the horrible fate of being stoned. This black box is very significant because it an s symbol of tradition. Just like tradition, it has been used for many years. Because it symbol in this story is the black box, which is used in the lottery process. . The box is a symbol of tradition and just like tradition; it has been used for many years. “ There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village.” It is old and needs to be replaced with a new one but none ...
Participation in the lottery causes the villagers to lose the ability to be empathetic and their bonds of family and friendship suffer for it. The lottery encourages them to abandon ties of love and loyalty and tap into the deepest recesses of the darkness that hides in humanity. The lottery does not offer them prosperity, but strips them of all that is good in humanity. The villagers are masked behind the evil that awaits them each year on a sunny day in June. The other 364 da...
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
...in the story, the reasons for holding the lottery are long forgotten and the rituals connected to it. Other than the making of participant lists, the use of the old black box and the swearing in, have mostly fallen by the waste side. All that really remains is a rigid adherence to the ancient tradition of the town. The black box became the ultimate symbol of death, as it is the messenger that delivers the unfortunate winner’s prize, which is death. The momentum that came from the villagers’ extreme degree of self-interest further propels the storm of immoral and unethical actions. The terrible tradition was carried out once again. Instead of considering the effect that the tradition had on their fellow villager, they were grateful that the little black box had spared them their own lives. As far as they were concerned the sky was blue and the sun was still shining.
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.
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.
Everyone from the town-- men, women and children-- gather to put a list of family names within the village into a black lottery box. Everyone in the village has their jobs on the