The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Symbolism Analysis
Writer, Shirley Jackson, in her short story, The Lottery, conveys a twisted town superstition by killing somebody through a lottery more crops will grow. In the story, there is one universal symbol and that is “Old Man Warner” (Jackson 4). His function is to show tradition of the lottery and he was made a figure who is less of an individual, but rather more he is in for something else, the nostalgia days. In the story, there are conventional symbols, like the white paper symbolizes equality and fairness. The black box represent death and the white slips inside represents the town souls. The stones they use to kill the person that won the lottery represent death. Mr. Summers is given unusual importance in the story. He is the one who calls
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The lottery symbolizes an annual ritual of death. The three legged stool supports the black box and represents the tradition of the lottery and death. The lottery went from chips to white paper which symbolizes the evolution of the event. Symbols do help depict the story’s character. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, has participated in seventy-seven lotteries and is very supportive for keeping things exactly the way they are. Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he has a lot of time on his hand do things for the village. It’s ironic that he is the event coordinator and the event occurs in the summer. Also Mr. Summer is the one that made the village change from wood chips to white paper. The name of Mr. Graves symbolizes of the end of journey of everyone who participates in the lottery, keeping true to his name by helping Mr. Summers in the making of the slips of papers to be drawn. In the short story symbols help advance the story’s plot. When Mr. Hutchinson picked the white paper with the dot on that was the climax. The white paper with the dot represents death. It’s like a red dot sight pointed at your forehead and the trigger is about be pulled. The purpose for the lottery is they sacrifice one of their own to secure rain and good crops. The moral of the story is just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean that there is not a better, more efficient, more humane way
The lottery symbolizes an annual ritual of death. The three legged stool supports the black box and represents the tradition of the lottery and death. The lottery went from chips to white paper which symbolizes the evolution of the event. Symbols do help depict the story’s character. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, has participated in seventy-seven lotteries and is very supportive for keeping things exactly the way they are. Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he has a lot of time on his hand do things for the village. It’s ironic that he is the event coordinator and the event occurs in the summer. Also Mr. Summer is the one that made the village change from wood chips to white paper. The name of Mr. Graves symbolizes of the end of journey of everyone who participates in the lottery, keeping true to his name by helping Mr. Summers in the making of the slips of papers to be drawn. In the short story symbols help advance the story’s plot. When Mr. Hutchinson picked the white paper with the dot on that was the climax. The white paper with the dot represents death. It’s like a red dot sight pointed at your forehead and the trigger is about be pulled. The purpose for the lottery is they sacrifice one of their own to secure rain and good crops. The moral of the story is just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean that there is not a better, more efficient, more humane way