The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short story set in a nondescript town somewhere in the middle of nowhere. A population of 300 people accompanies the main idea in the text of blindly following tradition where the people of the town are forced to take part in the annual lottery. The lottery as misleading as it sounds is quite the opposite of what you might imagine it to be, where the “winner” is condemned to death. Symbolism is used throughout the text through the use of characters who represented people and problems that existed at the time of the author and that still exist today.
The first glimpse of symbolism in the text was through the use of the character Tessie Hutchinson, she was used to reinforce the idea of blindly following tradition. …show more content…
The fact that the lottery is tradition, and most of the time has no direct harm toward themselves, gives the people of the town little reason to question this tradition and attempt to change it. That is until Tessie’s family is drawn from the box where Tessie begins to realise the consequences that are to follow,"You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!" she then claims the lottery is unfair with the realisation that one of her family members are condemned to death. This is relative to today's society where people do not understand the consequences of blindly following tradition until they are on the other end of the stick. The story holds a very patriarchal vibe, where the lottery which is run by men, drawn by men and then “won” by a woman, this …show more content…
The people of the town could easily overpower those in charge but yet are still obliged to take part in the lottery as sheep, to what could be seen as some sick sadistic game the overseer, known as Mr Summers likes to play. The story is set in what is imagined to be a small town in America set away from the rest of civilization, the people of the town are called every year to the town square to take part in the annual lottery. The Lottery however is quite the opposite of what you would imagine a lottery to be, every year one person in the town is drawn out of the ragged old black box to be stoned to death. This event arises many questions, the main one being why do they do this? The Lottery is clearly symbolic of unquestioned traditions, relative to today's society where things are done in a particular way without question, why is Jesus’ death celebrated by giving eggs made of chocolate to one another? Or why are men supposed to ask the woman for hand in marriage? Unquestioned traditions are seen in the lottery in a marginally exaggerated way, where murder is performed without logic nor question. Nobody sees the consequences until they are on the receiving end. Even those people who are directly affected by these traditions, know no different and do not contest against the
The first glimpse of symbolism in the text was through the use of the character Tessie Hutchinson, she was used to reinforce the idea of blindly following tradition. …show more content…
The fact that the lottery is tradition, and most of the time has no direct harm toward themselves, gives the people of the town little reason to question this tradition and attempt to change it. That is until Tessie’s family is drawn from the box where Tessie begins to realise the consequences that are to follow,"You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!" she then claims the lottery is unfair with the realisation that one of her family members are condemned to death. This is relative to today's society where people do not understand the consequences of blindly following tradition until they are on the other end of the stick. The story holds a very patriarchal vibe, where the lottery which is run by men, drawn by men and then “won” by a woman, this …show more content…
The people of the town could easily overpower those in charge but yet are still obliged to take part in the lottery as sheep, to what could be seen as some sick sadistic game the overseer, known as Mr Summers likes to play. The story is set in what is imagined to be a small town in America set away from the rest of civilization, the people of the town are called every year to the town square to take part in the annual lottery. The Lottery however is quite the opposite of what you would imagine a lottery to be, every year one person in the town is drawn out of the ragged old black box to be stoned to death. This event arises many questions, the main one being why do they do this? The Lottery is clearly symbolic of unquestioned traditions, relative to today's society where things are done in a particular way without question, why is Jesus’ death celebrated by giving eggs made of chocolate to one another? Or why are men supposed to ask the woman for hand in marriage? Unquestioned traditions are seen in the lottery in a marginally exaggerated way, where murder is performed without logic nor question. Nobody sees the consequences until they are on the receiving end. Even those people who are directly affected by these traditions, know no different and do not contest against the