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Shirley Jacksons The Lottery, is a story that is filled with a magnitude symbolism in a fairly short story. The author uses it to help her represent human nature in real life 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 in the back of a readers mind towards the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. The Lottery clearly expresses Jacksons 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 setting of the story helps to magnify its impact on the reader because it is set in a small town similar to the one many of us may know of, and that is symbolic of everything that we consider to be right in America. The story begins on a wonderful summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very joyful but strikes a contrast between the surroundings of the town and the atmosphere of the people gathered in the square.
The atmosphere is sober, where the adults stood together, away from the stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather then laughed. " (268) This, in just the third paragraph, is a indication through symbolism of the townsfolk's sober mood that something was amiss. The setting for the lottery also takes place in the same place as the square dances, the teen-age club, and the Halloween program. (268) This unifies our lives with those of the story sense we can relate to those types of events, and is symbolic in showing that even though this dastardly deed happens here that it is still the main place of celebration. Showing how easy it is for us, as human beings, to clean our conscientious by going back to a place that, on June 27, is a place of death and make it a place of delight. The black box is a good representation of the central idea to the story. The box is painted in black, which has always been a universal symbol for evil and death. The box also symbolizes a type of mystery, but as we read the ending we realize that it is tantamount with doom.
Someone's fate lies in this object, the black box. This black box revolves around all the evil acts executed in the past and the ones to come. We do not always enjoy change, even if it might prove beneficial to us, this is one of the main points that Jackson is trying to express to us and that is why the black box is symbolic of our aversion of change. Though it is old and splintered we still use it and she even points out this box was made from the black box before it which was from the beginnings of the village. This showing that we desperately hang onto what is familiar rather than change, and it also symbolizes the need to hold onto even the most trivial traditions of the community. (269) No one in the little town questions the origin of the black box, but rather accepts it as an basic part of their lives. The peoples actions are also very symbolical were Jackson exploits the evil yet common traits that show up in our humanity.
First look at how the boys make the stone pile in the beginning, this just shows that we as a civilization are only as decent and good as we are conditioned to be. And that it is an inherit trait in all of us, even the children, to be able to be excited and spirited so much as to build a stone pile for the sake of killing one of our neighbors, when we have the excuse and cause to do so. As the lottery gets underway we start to see another trait projecting though symbolism, that of hesitation and self preservation. Mr. and Mrs. Adams says of how the lottery is old and some villages have stopped their lotteries, an action caused by the fear of the fact he may have the black dot.
Ms. Delacroix says of how it seems that the last lottery just happen and Ms. Graves agrees with her, shows that neither are happy that the lottery is happening, as both know their husband could have the black dot. (271) However, after none of these families has the black dot the way they appear to feel about the lottery is completely different. They all now just want to see who in the Hutchison family will be stoned today. Ms. Delacroix seemed the most evil spirited of all when, after she shows a sign of good will towards Tessie only moments before, grabs a stone so big she can barely carry it. (273) This just amplifies the fact that even though she was worried for her own life before she has no problem killing Tessie, even a joyful madness by the group hysteria that the lottery infuses in the community.
When facing the possibility of death, human nature in all its complexity, comes down to one instinctive urge, that of survival. When Tessie was in no danger she was gossiping with the other ladies and even encouraged her husband to go and pick a piece of paper. When Tessie wins the lottery however, she pleads for another chance and screams for mercy. She demands that her daughters take their chances as well, which is caused her own sense of basic survival. After Mr.
Hutchison knows that he is safe he then symbolically portrays traits such as cowardice and indifference. Bill Hutchinson is apparently so scared of saying no to authority and the towns traditions that he will not take the necessary steps to protect his family. As a matter of fact he aids them in the death of his wife by forcing her to show the black spot. When a man is willing not just to stand by and watch as his wife stoned to death, but actually force her into it is symbolic of just how evil and controlling our traditions can be to us.
Lastly Jackson lit nary work goes so deep into symbolism that even the characters names cannot escape the symbolist web that Jackson has spun in this story. The names of Summers, Graves, Warner, Delacroix, and even Martin hint at the true nature of the characters. Mrs. Delacroix's name means of the cross in Latin therefore hinting at Tessie's sacrificial killing. (260, Websters) Mr.
Summers name symbolizes the time that this evil deed occurs it is also ironic cause one does tend to think of summer as full of life, that thought though just reinforces Jacksons ability to sugar coat the evil. Mr. Graves is the man who carries in the black box and the three-legged stool. His name hints to what will happen to Tessie Hutchinson. It is also from Mr. Graves whom the citizens get the papers from, therefore it is almost like he is the one who has the most influence over whose grave it will be next.
Old Man Warner, as his name indicates, warns the villagers of the unknown danger of stopping the yearly ritual. The irony here is that even though the old are know for being wise, Old Man Warner seems to be a very ignorant and superstitious being who blindly follows tradition. As I looked up Martin in the dictionary I noticed the word Martinet, a word that it seemed possible that martin could derive from and the meaning was a strict disciplinarian, a military one (612, Webster) this shows why Martins son is the one showing how to get the stones in the beginning and the martins seemed so focus in the story. The names of all the prominent characters in The Lottery support the idea that everybody hides their evil nature by way of deceit. Jacksons use of Symbolism is one of the key elements that makes this story to me so interesting, it is hard to believe that she could have wrote a story with so much symbolic depth in a matter of hours. (268) The story has its roots in symbolism as a literary device and Jackson uses it to create an intriguing story, that also makes the reader look at his or her own environment and the society around themselves. The pieces of paper that Jackson uses at the very end which are lifted away by the breeze is not only symbolic of the ease with which life can be taken but is also symbolic of vast civilizations that were doomed to eventual failure for believing in and acting on tradition, and not living according to the word of righteousness.
We see that even as Tessie is being stoned to death does she not question the reasoning behind the lottery, but why it should be her that has to die for the lottery. Symbolically Jackson was showing that though Tessie never had a chance to question the tradition that leads to her demise, we can always question the ones that are in our lives today, we can always strive for a better humanity, and we can always have a chance for things to change. BIBLIOGRAPHY Roberts, Jacobs, Literature an Introduction to Reading and Writing. Sixth ed.
Jackson, Lottery. 268 - 273 Prentice Hall. 2001 Upper Saddle River, NJ Lexicon, The New Lexicon Websters Dictionary of the English Language. 1998 ed. Lexicon Publications INC. New York
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Research essay sample on Lottery A Breakdown Of Jackson Symbolism
