The lottery is about a little village where they had a gathering called “The Lottery.” where who ever got the black dot would be stoned. For example as the author quotes “Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her” as quoted in “The Lottery”by Shirley Jackson. In the short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses symbolism to illustrate the themes of the tradition and randomness of persecution. In the short story it show the tradition on how dangerous it is when people follow it blindly. The villagers seem harmless even with their preparation.
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is basically trying to comprehend the readers what the symbols in the short story could mean. In "The Lottery" there are an amount of symbols that are included in the short story, such as, the black box, the stoning, the people who live in the village, and even the date of the lottery. A symbol is represented through the use of objects. Furthermost noticeable of these objects would be the black box mentioned in the short story. “The postmaster, Mr. Graves, followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it."
“The Lottery” is a use of irony itself. Usually when hearing lottery, something good comes to mind, which is why the title is very misleading. She creates a lot of suspense while leading up to what actually happens, because in reality something really devastating comes from this tradition. Also, the entire reason the lottery even started was forgotten. However, the villagers did not forget how to use the stones.
1) A lottery is usually a celebratory event where a prize is given to a randomly selected winner, but it is not the case in this story. The author withholds information regarding the purpose of the lottery until the very end. Some hints foreshadowing the tragic ending of the story might help us see that this is not a usual setting for a lottery. But those hints are quite subtle so it’s a little difficult to accurately predict the ending. The people of the village who gather for the event don’t seem be at ease.
It occurs when Tessie gets the paper because instead of winning something Tessie gets killed. Since the story's title is “The Lottery” the readers think she going to win something because that's what happens at lottery, but she didn't she ended up getting killed. The word symbolism is a system of symbols or representations (Merriam 1). The “black box” represents evil or death, suggested by the color of the box. They had been using that box since they started with “the lottery's” it was a tradition every time they finished with a lottery they were going to make a new box, but they never did.
The Lottery's use of Symbolism The short story, Lottery written by Shirley Jackson delineates a tradition which involves the whole city to be present, where one person chooses a name out of the black box and the whole town throws stones at that one person, this occurs every June 27. Through her story she was able to use “The Black Box” and “The Lottery” as a way of symbolism throughout the story. The Black Box is very important because the towns peoples feel as if they must follow through with the tradition of using it every year even though the box gets in a worsening position year after year. “Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done.” every year the traditions, or they’ll go back to the stone age. The black box has a very powerful meaning .
In “The Lottery” Jackson uses a black box to symbolize death, Jackson says “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been long lost ago,and the black box now had been resting on the stool. It had been there even before old man Warner”(Jackson 1).This shows symbolism because it shows how old the black box really is. The reader of “The Lottery” can tell that author is using symbolism. In the beginning, Shirley Jackson says “the original paraphernalia had been long lost ago”. (Jackson 1).
The violence of human nature constantly shows throughout literature. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the stoning of young women resembles the witch trials of the 1700s. The town in the story seems to be normal, friendly place where everybody knows everybody. However, it is a place where a barbaric ritual of stoning takes place. Throughout the story, Shirley Jackson creates a sense of normality, ending with a conclusion that has both suspense and foreshadowing.
On a clear and sunny June day the members of a village gathered in the town square to participate in the lottery. However, unlike the lottery that partakes in our society, this one involves narrowing down the villagers until one remains who gets stoned to death by the other villagers. The one object that can be used to represent this cruel tradition is The Black Box, from which the villagers draw from to determine the victim. This mysterious black box represents how traditions have a hold on us. The Black Box symbolizes how traditions like the lottery attach themselves to us through the box’s appearance, history, and overall mysteriousness.
The details the author used in describing the characters or the families is another symbolism between the timing of the lottery and the family ties, or lack of, that is presented in the story. From naming the characters to the roles they each have in the story Jackson is sure to make sure the readers know each of their importance to the