The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis Essay

Analysis of “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” encases the ruthlessness of human interaction in a merely 3,738 words (Cellania). “The Lottery” starts by showing you a small town in America, in which the townspeople are gathering for their annual “Lottery” tradition, in which the story is named after. As the story continues the mood changes from seemingly positive and welcoming to a more suspicious and sinister motive. The story takes a disturbing turn and reveals that whoever is unfortunate to win “The Lottery” is unmercifully stoned to death by their fellow townspeople. The fatal tradition exemplifies how senseless traditions can enthrall and furthermore leave us mindless to the consequences and burdens of our actions. For what the story lacks in the development of characters it gains in symbolism which assists in the theme and illuminating the enormities enacted by the individuals that participated in the lottery. Although …show more content…
“The black box grow shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along on one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.” The black box being the most symbolic item through-out the story is quite interesting for the fact that black is usually a representation of power, death, evil and mystery. (Color Psychology) The black box’s procession of power can be seen when the townspeople seem intimidated by it when we read “The villagers kept their distance, leaving space between them and the stool.” (Jackson) Giving light to they were afraid and intimated by the power the box held. We see death when we learn about the black dot and Tessie Hutchison’s death. Evil is seen by how corrupt the idea of killing someone every year helps them and how the black box represents it every year reminding the villagers of who was killed and how unmerciful the townspeople were to follow it every