The Lottery Symbolism Essay

Traditions are in every family, friendship, community, religion, and culture. Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” teaches aspects of traditions and raises questions about whether keeping traditions is good or bad if they harm society. Throughout Jackson’s short story, traditions are displayed by deeply looking at the mirroring of archetypal plot patterns, and symbols.

This was a time where a lot of countries were rebuilding there nations due to the

Throughout the course of human history, people from a variety of cultures have crafted their own cultural, religious, and familial traditions based on communal beliefs. To this day, people from around the world continue to carry out rituals from hundreds of years ago that their ancestors held to be both beneficial and necessary in maintaining a thriving society. These practices, however, have the potential to be malicious and harmful to society. As one of the most famous short stories in American literature, The Lottery provides the reader with a tale about the practices of a small, fictional town that holds an annual lottery each year. Through Shirley Jackson’s use of irony, symbolism, and setting in The Lottery, I found the main theme to

Numerous critics have carefully discussed Shirley Jackson's “The Lottery” in terms of the scapegoat traditions of anthropology and literature, pointing out its obvious comment on the innate savagery of man lurking beneath his civilized trappings. Most acknowledge the power of the story, admitting that the psychological shock of the ritual murder in an atmosphere of modern, small-town normality cannot be easily forgotten. Nevertheless, beneath the praise of these critics frequently runs a current of uneasiness, a sense of having been defrauded in some way by the development of the story as a whole.

?The Lottery? by Shirley Jackson is a short story that without the symbolism of its characters, would amount to little more than an odd tale about a stoning. However, because

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire” (Gustav Mahler). Traditions take place in everyday lives all across the world, however, a positive outcome from the contribution of traditions does not always occur. Blindly following traditions often lead to terrible consequences. For example, in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a once-a-year tradition followed by the town has no positive help on the town and people, just as if one tried to light wood fire with wet wood. The emphasization of symbolism, foreshadowing, and suspense throughout the short story “The Lottery” reveal the consequences of blindly following traditions.

Wright was emotionless when the county attorney asked what happened to Mr. Wright. Her reply was he is dead. She did not seem to be concerned at all she just sat in the rocking chair pleating her apron. Her husband was hung by a rope while they were both sleeping and Mrs. Wright did not know who did it. That seemed a little suspicious that she did not hear a thing or know a thing considering they slept in the same bed. This would lead the reader to believe she killed her husband, but why? While the sheriff and county attorney investigated the crime scene, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters arrived to get some things that Mrs. Wright had requested them to get for her. While both ladies are there they get a little curious and look around her house. They both began to wonder if Mrs. Wright killed her husband. They then found a bird cage without the bird. That is a little strange. What happened to the bird? Mrs. Peters notices the hinge of the cage is broke. Both ladies go on with their business gathering items requested. While doing this they find the bird wrapped in silk with its neck wrung. Who could do such a thing? Mr. Wright probably killed the bird because he did not like things that made his wife happy so he had to do something about it. This event is what leads the reader to believe Mrs. Wright killed her husband because he killed the only thing that made her happy. Also, once he was dead she did not have to worry about him anymore and was free from the misery of being

The concept of the “unseen woman” continues when Mrs. Hale rescues the surviving jar of Mrs. Wright’s cherry preserves, when both women gather clothes to take to jail and when Mrs. Hale begins to sit in the rocking chair; we feel as if that third woman is on stage (Noe). Mrs. Hale completes an action begun by Mrs. Wright when she takes out the sewing basket and finishes a badly sewn piece and later she finds the empty birdcage and silk-wrapped dead canary. These actions enable us to envision Mrs. Wright working in her kitchen on the d ay of the murder and reconstruct the events that precipitated it (Noe).

The play begins with Mr. Hale telling the county attorney exactly what he saw when he came to Mr. and Mrs. Wrights’ home the day before. He tells them that he was knocking on the door of the home with hopes of finding John so that he could go with him into town. He states “But I opened the door and there in that rocker sat Mrs. Wright” (Glaspell 1392). Knowing that her husband was murdered the day before, it was strange to find her resting in the rocking chair as if she was unconcerned. In order to build suspense and anticipation among the audience, during this scene I would dim the lights and make the stage appear gloomy and dull. As Mr. Hale entered the home, I would center the focus on Mrs. Wright by shining a brighter spotlight on her to emphasize the peculiarity of her behavior. By doing this, it would force the audience to begin to wonder and become curious as to whether or not Mrs. Wright is guilty of the murder of her husband.

Many stories, such as “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, have many symbols hidden throughout the narrative. Symbols help to relate objects, colors, etc. to certain emotions which furthers the reader’s connection to the story. Symbolism can also change the perspective of the readers. For example, an item could have a different meaning in the story than it does in the real world. Even though “The Lottery” is a short story it has many elements of symbolism such as the color black, the lottery, and the stones.

Symbolism is a sign that has been used by literary authors to represent a larger idea into another more specific concept or belief. Symbolism can be used to represent an action, an idea or a person’s archetype as well. The term symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing in things with a symbolic meaning or character (“Symbolism”). Examples of symbolism are: an eagle representing freedom, a dove representing peace, and the color green can symbolize the feeling of envy. The following pieces of literature, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence, “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, and “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath are all poems that use symbolism.

Shirley Jackson’s 1948 short story “The Lottery” takes place in a small town with a population of three hundred people. The lottery that occurs is not quite what the reader expects, and in order to grasp what the lottery is, the reader must understand the plethora of symbols that are utilized throughout the story. Jackson’s use of symbols demonstrates the need for belonging, and the dangers and violence that can come with tradition.

Symbolism is used throughout The Lottery in the character names. Author, Shirley Jackson, uses the name of, Mr. Graves, to foreshadow the story and explain what “The Lottery” really is. Mr. Graves is the one who carries the three-legged stool which could indicate two things: the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, or it could mean the past, present and future, saying that “The Lottery” will always be among the people of the village. In addition, he is also the owner of the post office and as the Postmaster, he delivers the news of the lottery on who will get stoned to death. Mr. Graves name signals the tombstones, death, and a cemetery. As well as Mr. Graves, Mr. Summers name also serves a symbolic purpose. He runs clubs and

“The Lottery,” is a horrifying, yet thought-provoking story. Author Shirley Jackson gives readers an unexpected twist while reading about a small village. Jennifer Hicks also discusses the view of this town in the article “Overview of The Lottery.” “Jackson portrays the average citizens of an average village taking part in an annual sacrifice of one of their own residents,” (Hicks). At the beginning of this story, no one would think the ending would consist of a deadly stoning. A great deal of symbolism, irony, and a deranged theme is unrolled throughout this gruesome story.