Symbols In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

The lottery by Shirley Jackson, takes place in a flourishing small town, that has a tradition of a lottery once a year. The lottery has been practiced for as long as the citizens could remember, they do not remember why or how it came to be, but that it is tradition. Shirley Jackson uses symbolism in actions, names, and objects to tell the underlying meaning of the lottery. The lottery begins with what seems like the most innocent of actions, children playing, but foreshadows the evil and satanic ritual that will soon be upon them. Children running around the courtyard and playing. While this is happening “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones” (2). Other children followed suit, “The other boys...selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” They are selecting the most ideal rocks to throw, round like a baseball and small so the impact of the rock causes small bludgeoning wounds, taking the longest to kill. Also the children gather a “great pile of stones” knowing that many stones will be thrown. Just the thought of this brings shutters to the bone. These schoolchildren have seen the
Summers brings out a stool with 3 legs and a black box. The stool with three legs may represent the trinity. The three legs are individual but make up one stool. Whereas the black box may represent the devil. Black is also known as the color of the devil and evil. This all ties into the fact that the box is on top of the stool, representing that the devil is king, because the devil is annually condemning the citizens to hell by normalizing the breaking of the 6th Commandment. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson uses many literary elements, but the most evident one is the usage of foreshadowing. The way Jackson uses different levels to foreshadow. Some evident at first but others take a little more time and thought. The way the names, actions of the citizens, and the objects tie together the story in a mysterious way from the beginning to