Nostalgia And Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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A lottery ticket is a voucher for a prize but not a voucher to end a life. Normally people would be so enthusiastic if he or she had won the lottery. As for the short story, “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson is a different type of lottery; everyone is expecting to see a villager gets execute. The idea seems to be absurd by persecuting an innocent citizen but it’s a tradition to these villagers because everyone has to participate and not question about it. As for the black box itself, it represents a symbolism of a nostalgia that shows that this event is an annual tradition. No one knows who created the event or how, but it shows that they are living in a village where everyone seems to be contempt about the lottery. However, the children, …show more content…
In the “The Lottery,” the black wooden box represents an old nostalgic piece that shows that this ritual was adhere many times in the village. “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer black but splintered … and in some placed faded or stained” (Jackson). The way the lottery was set from the past to the present was a list that contain every member of a family in a household. However, the one thing is that the box is as old as Mr. Warner, no one bothered to fix the box, because it has been the village’s symbol. As for “The Lottery” itself, it symbolizes how the village is devoted to the ritual. No one is concern about killing someone, but everyone is order to stone a person whenever a person receives a mark on their ticket. The murdering in this town is an annual ritual for the people. The box and the lottery itself represent a symbolism of a sacred ritual that helps keep the tradition passed on to the future …show more content…
However, it’s worth a life where a little ticket would kill an innocent person because a little village need to maintain their population. “The Lottery” is an annual ritual that has been passing down from many generations. However, no one is question about it, because the purpose of it was to eliminate a person every time the population increases. No one is questioning about it and that it seems absurd that everyone in the village wants to kill an innocent victim so there is no one to blame. A small village living on a sacred ritual due to an old wooden box seems irrational. But, a utopic village has secrets that turns into a dystopic

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