Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery Analysis The Lottery published in The New Yorker by Shirley Jackson in 1948 was one of the most controversial short stories ever to be published for its time. It is a story of a small town of about 300 people; however, this is no normal town. This town is a prime example of dystopia. The story takes a dive off the deep end with the plot twist at the ending; the “winner” of the annual lottery is stoned to death by the members of the community. The story is one that displays character changes, many references, and displays symbolism. It is well written in the fact that it is a memorable story.
There are so many possible angles on ways to show symbolism throughout the short story. From the death by stoning done by the townspeople to the names of the characters, Shirley Jackson definitely played symbolism as a key role in this short story. Almost everything that the reader reads has somewhat of a symbolical reference. Jackson uses historical, religious, and even literary referenced from the past throughout the story. …show more content…
“Another theme of concerns the blind following of tradition and the negative consequences of such an action. The people of the village continue to take part in the lottery even though they cannot remember certain aspects of the ritual,” ("Themes and Construction: 'The Lottery '.") An example of this is that they have forgotten the chant and salute, but still continue to participate in the lottery each year. "There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here." ("Themes and Construction: 'The Lottery '.") So before the current box got all shabby again, there was another box before that which says how long the lottery has actually been around. For a fact, we know it has been around for seventy seven years as claimed by Old Man
There are so many possible angles on ways to show symbolism throughout the short story. From the death by stoning done by the townspeople to the names of the characters, Shirley Jackson definitely played symbolism as a key role in this short story. Almost everything that the reader reads has somewhat of a symbolical reference. Jackson uses historical, religious, and even literary referenced from the past throughout the story. …show more content…
“Another theme of concerns the blind following of tradition and the negative consequences of such an action. The people of the village continue to take part in the lottery even though they cannot remember certain aspects of the ritual,” ("Themes and Construction: 'The Lottery '.") An example of this is that they have forgotten the chant and salute, but still continue to participate in the lottery each year. "There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here." ("Themes and Construction: 'The Lottery '.") So before the current box got all shabby again, there was another box before that which says how long the lottery has actually been around. For a fact, we know it has been around for seventy seven years as claimed by Old Man