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The Lottery Superstition

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“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. The story’s plot is not hard to follow except that the reader does not really know what is actually going on until the end. Despite there not being too much going on with the story, there is still some symbolism. The lottery itself has some potential meanings. One possibility is that the lottery could symbolize traditions in today’s society that are not practical. This could range from coloring eggs for Easter to racism. The villagers do the lottery because they believe that it will bring a good harvest of crops. They say, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.” This is the only ‘practical’ reason they do the lottery, even though it is just purely superstition. The

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