‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson is seen to have various symbolism pointers in the story. The paper is going to discuss three of the symbols which include; the lottery, the black box and the stones. Firstly is the lottery where symbolism is well seen in the first paragraph. The description of the event is that it takes place in the morning and only takes few hours since the population of the village is small. It symbolizes that the event is a tradition that does not only take place in one community but also in other villages in the region because they compare the populations where other communities take two days while this one takes hours. There is also the prove of excitement and participation by all where even children are present for the event, and it is seen through them gathering as the first people for the event. The purpose is to show continuity, an involvement of everyone and occurrence of the event in the region (Jackson, 1948).
Secondly is the black box where it is seen at the beginning of the story before the event starts. The black box is essential for the traditional ritual and has been used for many years, therefore, proving that the box has some ritualistic power in the event. The setting is that the box is old and has worn out due to the number of years it has been used without replacement. The purpose of the box is to show the ritualistic value of the event and the continuity for they refuse to replace it with a new version (Jackson, 1948).
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Lastly are the stones where it appears at the end of the story. It is used to execute the ritual where one of the villagers is murdered. The stones symbolize a murder weapon that is utilized by the whole village to perform the ceremony. Jackson uses the stones to symbolize the fact that the ritual is something that started in the ancient times where stones were used as weapons to kill.
Reference
Jackson, S. (1948). The lottery. The New Yorker , 26 , 25-28.
