“The Lottery”
In the early to mid-20th century, the life of the New England villages was a quiet, quaint life, but beneath the surface, there was much more to the smiling faces. These small towns were littered with deep-set traditions and ideologies. As referenced northbennington.org, many of the townspeople in Shirley Jackson’s residence of North Bennington were this way as well. The writer mentions anti-Semitic comments towards her father and tense attitudes towards Blacks. These interactions in her hometown inspired her writing in her life. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, she uses irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing to show that despite the seemingly innocent exterior of small town, there exists a strong tendency towards archaic traditions …show more content…
Firstly, the box is described as an old, splintering, black box. The exact nature behind the box is a mystery, as the townspeople have different theories of where it came from. Usually, the color black is associated with death; therefore, it is an apt description that the black box is a bringer of death. One person’s entire fate rests upon what the black box contains, and this black box rests upon the three-legged stool. In her article, “The Lottery” Symbolic Tour de Force, Helen Nebeker says “…the significance of the three-legged stool- as old as the tripod of the Delphic oracle, as new as the Christian trinity. For that which supports the present day box of meaningless and perverted superstition is the body of unexamined tradition of at least six thousand years of man’s history.” It represents how man supports old, archaic traditions and uses things like the bible in order to support his or her viewpoint. Even to this day, people still use the Bible to support their views such as suppressing gay marriage. They use the Bible to justify legislature (the black box) that prevents them from being happy. More allusions in this short story come in the form of the names the townspeople—some of the more obvious ones being Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers represents the light-hearted nature of the whole proceedings and how everyone is nonchalant about it. Before the drawings took place, he was seen just casually chatting with the townspeople. On the other hand, Mr. Graves represents the sinister nature behind it. He doesn’t talk as much as Mr. Summers and is more professional and meticulous. Of Warner, he is symbolic of the town criers. He is an irritable old man “warning” of what would come to happen, should the town abandon its traditions. Finally, there are a few other names with much more hidden meanings. Firstly, there is a woman named Mrs.
In the early to mid-20th century, the life of the New England villages was a quiet, quaint life, but beneath the surface, there was much more to the smiling faces. These small towns were littered with deep-set traditions and ideologies. As referenced northbennington.org, many of the townspeople in Shirley Jackson’s residence of North Bennington were this way as well. The writer mentions anti-Semitic comments towards her father and tense attitudes towards Blacks. These interactions in her hometown inspired her writing in her life. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, she uses irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing to show that despite the seemingly innocent exterior of small town, there exists a strong tendency towards archaic traditions …show more content…
Firstly, the box is described as an old, splintering, black box. The exact nature behind the box is a mystery, as the townspeople have different theories of where it came from. Usually, the color black is associated with death; therefore, it is an apt description that the black box is a bringer of death. One person’s entire fate rests upon what the black box contains, and this black box rests upon the three-legged stool. In her article, “The Lottery” Symbolic Tour de Force, Helen Nebeker says “…the significance of the three-legged stool- as old as the tripod of the Delphic oracle, as new as the Christian trinity. For that which supports the present day box of meaningless and perverted superstition is the body of unexamined tradition of at least six thousand years of man’s history.” It represents how man supports old, archaic traditions and uses things like the bible in order to support his or her viewpoint. Even to this day, people still use the Bible to support their views such as suppressing gay marriage. They use the Bible to justify legislature (the black box) that prevents them from being happy. More allusions in this short story come in the form of the names the townspeople—some of the more obvious ones being Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers represents the light-hearted nature of the whole proceedings and how everyone is nonchalant about it. Before the drawings took place, he was seen just casually chatting with the townspeople. On the other hand, Mr. Graves represents the sinister nature behind it. He doesn’t talk as much as Mr. Summers and is more professional and meticulous. Of Warner, he is symbolic of the town criers. He is an irritable old man “warning” of what would come to happen, should the town abandon its traditions. Finally, there are a few other names with much more hidden meanings. Firstly, there is a woman named Mrs.