Symbols in “The Lottery”
What is in a name? In literature, names of characters and places often play into the meaning of the text. The characters in, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, Mr. Warner, and Tessie Hutchinson have many ironic or hidden meanings such as leadership, tradition, death, and fate. These names in the story help play into the opposition of the text and the meaning of the story and also help it fit into the deconstruction theory. First, a smaller character in the story who has a big meaning in his name would be Mr. Graves. His name alone sounds a little creepy because his last name is Graves. This already gives some sort of sign away about what he stands for. Mr. Graves is the postmaster in …show more content…
This could be either of those because at the beginning of the story, Tessie is late for the lottery when this has been a tradition for a very long time and always on the same day. “Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into the place in the back of the crowd. “Clean forgot what day it was” (Shirley Jackson, The Lottery pg 2). People in the story also started to joke about having to “go on” without Tessie and she also started joking about how her husband wouldn’t want her leaving the dishes in the sink. This shows how careless Tessie could be when others are extremely into the tradition of the lottery like Mr. Warner. Tessie also starts to complain when she finds out that her husband has drawn the paper that is marked because she says that he did not have enough time to draw and her husband tells her to shut up. At the end, we find out that Tessie had drawn the slip with the black dot on it. Tessie was then in the center of the crowd still saying how unfair the drawing was and as she screamed the last time they all came in on her. Tessie getting chosen at the end of the story could symbolize karma or fate, because she was late to the lottery drawing, and also started to complain when no one else did when they had to draw because her family got drawn. Then she got the paper with the black dot on it which could symbolize karma for her acting out right away when her family was drawn. She also told Mr. Summers that her daughter should have to draw with the Hutchinson’s even though she is married and is supposed to draw with her husband’s family so the chances of Tessie getting drawn would be less likely. Tessies character would symbolize either karma or fate in The Lottery because of her actions when her family is drawn and also before the
What is in a name? In literature, names of characters and places often play into the meaning of the text. The characters in, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, Mr. Warner, and Tessie Hutchinson have many ironic or hidden meanings such as leadership, tradition, death, and fate. These names in the story help play into the opposition of the text and the meaning of the story and also help it fit into the deconstruction theory. First, a smaller character in the story who has a big meaning in his name would be Mr. Graves. His name alone sounds a little creepy because his last name is Graves. This already gives some sort of sign away about what he stands for. Mr. Graves is the postmaster in …show more content…
This could be either of those because at the beginning of the story, Tessie is late for the lottery when this has been a tradition for a very long time and always on the same day. “Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and slid into the place in the back of the crowd. “Clean forgot what day it was” (Shirley Jackson, The Lottery pg 2). People in the story also started to joke about having to “go on” without Tessie and she also started joking about how her husband wouldn’t want her leaving the dishes in the sink. This shows how careless Tessie could be when others are extremely into the tradition of the lottery like Mr. Warner. Tessie also starts to complain when she finds out that her husband has drawn the paper that is marked because she says that he did not have enough time to draw and her husband tells her to shut up. At the end, we find out that Tessie had drawn the slip with the black dot on it. Tessie was then in the center of the crowd still saying how unfair the drawing was and as she screamed the last time they all came in on her. Tessie getting chosen at the end of the story could symbolize karma or fate, because she was late to the lottery drawing, and also started to complain when no one else did when they had to draw because her family got drawn. Then she got the paper with the black dot on it which could symbolize karma for her acting out right away when her family was drawn. She also told Mr. Summers that her daughter should have to draw with the Hutchinson’s even though she is married and is supposed to draw with her husband’s family so the chances of Tessie getting drawn would be less likely. Tessies character would symbolize either karma or fate in The Lottery because of her actions when her family is drawn and also before the