The Lottery Theme Analysis

In her short story, The Lottery, Shirley Jackson shows the reader that the basis of tradition stays consistent, but the minor details adapt to the new generations. Jackson uses strong examples of motifs of family and rules, symbolism of the tattered black box, and foreshadowing of how the story will end. Jackson uses all of these examples to help her reader figure out her mysterious meaning by the end of her short story. Shirley Jackson uses several motifs including family and rules in The Lottery. Family is a strong aspect in The Lottery that shows how the value of a family bond is less important than the value of tradition. At the end of her short story, Jackson shows the commonality of family, including small children, stoning their relatives. This scene displays how much the community respects their long-lasting tradition. Another motif presented in the story is rules. The idea of rules in The Lottery becomes very loose to the point where only the basis of the lottery remains. The rules change and adapt to conform to the new generations beginning to participate in the lottery each year. The old rugged black box is used by Jackson to symbolize small change. The villagers were unwilling to change out the entire black box, …show more content…
In The Lottery, there are several foreshadowing events that reveal the story’s true meaning and Jackson’s idea about tradition. The young children stuffing their pockets full of stones in the beginning of the story is leading up to the stoning of someone in their village. Old Man Warner tells Mr. Adams of a saying about how the lottery promises healthy crops. At the beginning Jackson mentions that the grass was richly green. Both of those statements inform the reader why the villagers sacrifice own of their own. Jackson uses the foreshadowing technique to make her readers reread her stories just to see the subtle hints she throws at