Essay On Symbolism In The Lottery And Young Goodman Brown

Improved Essays
The usage of symbolism in “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown”
Thesis: Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne convey the themes of “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” through the use of symbolism.
I. Jackson and Hawthorne use objects to illustrate evil throughout the story.
A. The black box is used to convey the evil of a tradition “The Lottery”
B. The staff turning into a serpent is a symbol of Satan
C. Faith’s pink ribbons represent purity.
D.
II. Jackson and Hawthorne both use names to illustrate evil throughout the story.
A. Mr. Graves is the leader of the town in “The Lottery”
B. Faith is a faithful Christian woman
C. “Young Goodman Brown” creates a feeling of religions evil.

Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne convey the themes of “The Lottery” and
…show more content…
Jackson says, “The black box resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (71), this statement indicates that the tradition had been going on for some time now. The white slips of paper indicate that no one is excluded from the drawing. Unfortunately, the individual who has the white slip with the black spot will endure the stoning. Again the color black is used. The box is only put to use for this particular gathering. It had become such a tradition that everyone in town completely ignored the senseless act murder. Even the children are accepting of the event; as mentioned in the beginning that the children began making a pile of stones.
In “Young Goodman Brown”, Hawthorne begins this short story with frequent reference to Faith’s pink ribbons. This is a representation of innocence and purity. As reading of the short story begins, it’s made clear that Faith’s demeanor is very much so of her name. Even as he departed from Faith, he still looks back and sees her ribbons blowing in the wind. Towards the end of his trip he will see the ribbons

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Themes In The Lottery

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In "The Lottery" Jackson supports that there is danger in blindly following traditions by showing conflicts in the plot, using symbolism in objects and situations, and using irony throughout the short story. The conflicts in the plot that supports the theme is internal and external conflicts. Right when “The Lottery” started there was a rush of nervousness and a “sudden hush” through…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story “The Lottery”, the author Shirley Jackson writes of a small town presumably somewhere in the United States where an annual ceremony is held. In the lead up to the ceremony Jackson depicts the atmosphere in the town as the people prepare for this ritual that is known as the lottery. Jackson doesn’t mention throughout the exposition of the short story what the lottery exactly is but we find that there is an uncertain atmosphere surrounding the ceremony. In the preparation she mentions the names of various citizens that live in the small town and delves slightly into the dialogue that the village folk have surrounding this ritual.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Lottery This short story begins with a scene in a small village of polite folks gathering together for an event that happens every year in the town square. The reader is introduced to an enlightening story which gives the idea that someone will end up winning a grand prize. Instead, this lottery is held in the village in which one person will end their life by being stoned to death.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The forest symbolizes life that holds mystery and evil that Goodman Brown has to travel down on his journey. The staff which symbolizes the biblical perspective of the demonic serpent and his power of deception. Faith symbolizes his religious views and how his views are lost once Faith falls into the devil’s hands. And lastly, her pink ribbons symbolize Faith’s innocence and purity and how it was lost as she fell into the devil’s clutches. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of symbolism helps show the readers that not everything is as it may seem; that evil exists in the most unlikely…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Like most authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses elements of literature to create an extraordinary short story, “Young Goodman Brown”. In this story, the authors selects characters and assigns them to fit in accordance to the themes he attempts to share with his audience. In this essay, a deeper exploration into these elements will target to examine how the author combines each element to create certain effect in the story. For example, character analysis and style are used to differentiate characters giving them identity and providing emphasis on the author’s ideas regarding the main theme of the story. Faith, Young Goodman Browns sweetheart, shows the principle perspective of Puritans.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    ystopian writings have always been an lenient entryway for authors to deliver a message and occasionally cryptic lesson to fellow readers. The idea is for the readers to discover the true meanings or warnings amid the details. Through the use of symbolism, Shirley Jackson and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., authors of “The Lottery” and “Harrison Bergeron,” both highlight the jeopardy of blindly following traditions and customs, while also expecting a moral outcome. To begin with, Jackson utilizes symbolism in “The Lottery” to present the concept of tradition throughout the story. One of the main forms is the little black box that sits on the stool, ready to be used to dictate who will be chosen for this year’s lottery.…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Lottery”- Following Age Old Tradition People everywhere live their lives based on tradition. These can be simple, from certain recipes to the way children are raised. However traditions can change overtime. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson follows one such tradition. One that with time, loses aspects and meaning.…

    • 1335 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How much longer must ignorance and pointless violence continue before we will start to change? The answer to this question may appear simple and in Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” the satire is obvious. By using literary criticisms readers can evaluate more in depth what the story is actually trying convey. Two major literary criticisms that will discussed in detail are Psychological Theory and Historical Criticism and New Historicism. Psychological Theory basically deals with the psychological aspect or the mindset of a person.…

    • 1987 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story, “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson uses imagery and symbolism to show that evil can be present in the most innocent environment, resulting in society being tainted with dark illusion. Superstitious tradition symbolized an important role to the people in this village. Mr. Summers a man that was in charge of the majority of the events in the town, always spoke about making a new black box but never did. (134) The people of the village would rather keep the same box rather than upsetting tradition with something new.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Young Goodman Brown” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an author who uses symbols to try to teach a moral or lesson to the reader. In this story the author focused on the innocent and wicked. This story had several main characters that supported his intentions, such as Young Goodman Brown who is our main character, Faith who is Young Goodman Brown wife , a man whose name is not known, but is symbolically representing the devil and other characters were included but were not as significant. It also used several symbolic symbols in the story such as Faith and her pink ribbons, Devil’s staff, Brown’s family, dreams and his death. This story ,the story of “Young Goodman Brown” , written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses symbols to represent the lesson…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is filled with many layers of symbolism that include both characters, such a Faith, and objects, such as the staffs. These symbols are used in various events to create a structure for deeper meaning in the novel. Such events include Young Goodman Brown’s constant turning back towards his wife and his acceptance of the staff. The final culmination of these events is a moral theme that accounts for both the literal and symbolic angles that the story is told from. The moral of “Young Goodman Brown,” illustrated through symbolism, is that sinfulness is inherently intertwined with human nature and the more anyone concerns themselves with it the more havoc it wreaks on their life.…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is a story about the struggle between good and evil which is a narrative that has been around for decades. All throughout history people have fought to maintain balance between the two and not let one overpower the other and Young Goodman Brown is one of these people. Young Goodman Brown is stuck between choosing to worship the devil or have faith in God. Faith is also the name of his wife, who he sees as the ultimate symbol of purity and goodness. Faith’s portrayal of purity is only furthered by the pink ribbons she wears as they represent purity and innocence while also giving her a childlike quality.…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne: Symbolism that relates to the theme in “Young Goodman Brown” In the story “Young Goodman Brown” the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to give the story much more meaning. Through interpreting the underlying meaning of various examples of symbolism implemented by the author, the reader will be able to identify the theme and the story as a whole. Not only will the reader be able to identify and understand the theme, but they will also follow along with the story more closely and also will be allowed to refer back to significant incidents of symbolism throughout.…

    • 1524 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Loss of Faith and Innocence In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young Goodman Brown,” he illustrates the duplicity of man’s mind and the struggles to understand truth. By the end of the dark story, the author does not articulate if Young Goodman Brown really took part in a heathen experience in the night described in the story or if it was all made up. Whether part of his imagination or real, the experiences of Brown changed his life forever. It changed everything he knew about faith, love, mankind and society. “A stern, a sad, a darkly meditative, a distrustful, if not a desperate man did he become from the night of that fearful dream.”…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Symbolism and allegory are two literary elements that are frequently used in many literary works. Symbolism, an element that uses images and indirect impression to represent ideas, emotions, and state of mind is compared to allegory, a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning in the form of a narrative or concrete material. These elements are commonly used in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” Hawthorne’s story provides an example of allegory in which he uses figures and characters in the story as symbols to better support his allegorical tones in which he uses complete symbolism.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays