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The Themes Of Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Decent Essays

“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.
The irony lives throughout the characters, their names, and the actions they take. The first sentence of this story contains irony. “The morning of June 27th was clear …show more content…

The biggest role of symbolism is the black dot. The black dot represents death and who the victim will be for this tradition. People prayed and internally begged for their card to be blank. When Tessie Hutchinson’s husband, Bill Hutchinson, discovered the black dot on his card, he was petrified and did not speak. Tessie, on the other hand, would not stop speaking. “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” (Jackson 340). Sadly, Tessie was the only one to make a scene over this black dot. A friend, Mrs. Delacroix, even shamed her for her …show more content…

Delacroix called,” (Jackson 338). Mrs. Delacroix was also a symbolic character in this story. The word ‘Delacroix’ means of the cross in French. Jackson makes readers believe Tessie Hutchinson and Mrs. Delacroix were friends; however, Mrs. Delacroix chose the largest stone. Why would her Christian friend deceive her like this? “Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. “Come on,” she said. “Hurry up.” (Jackson 342). This action taken by Mrs. Delacroix shows betrayal and fraud towards their friendship. One could even say Mrs. Delacroix gave the impression of excitement to participate. Mrs. Delacroix should be ashamed of this is a fake and misled friendship. Earlier, Tessie Hutchinson’s late arrival was mentioned, and this also was symbolical part of the story. It pointed out Tessie was caught up in doing a simple chore, which was doing the dishes. The simple chore symbolizes the normal life around this annual event. Tessie had forgotten about the lottery due to her ordinary life of caring for her

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