Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay -- The Lottery Essays

The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it (Twain). The Lottery begins during the summer. A small, seemingly normal, town is gathering to throw the annual Lottery. In the end, the townspeoplechildren includedgather around and stone the winner to death, simply because it was tradition. The allegory reveals how traditions can become outdated and ineffective. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the storys readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives (Jackson). As humans have as a race, their practices should develop with them. Shirley Jackson develops the theme that blindly following traditions is dangerous in her short story The Lottery through the use of symbolism, foreshadowing, and irony. symbolism is used heavily in The Lottery. One of the first symbols revealed in the short story is the Black Box, used b y the townspeople as the give box. The scurrilous box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner . . .was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about reservation a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box (Jackson). The Black Box stands as a symbol for the lottery itself and tradition of all types. Although it may be difficult to upset or diversify parts of traditions that have been practiced for ages, it is necessary to do so to grow as people. Another symbol in the story is the black box. Although it is old and shabby, the villagers atomic number 18 unwilling or unable to replace it, just as they are unwilling to stop participating in the lottery (Wilson). The... ...n.p., 1986. N. pag. Print.Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Masterplots, Fourth Edition (2010) 1-3. literary type Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.The Lottery. Literature and Its Times Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works a nd the Historical Events that Influenced Them. Joyce Moss and George Wilson. Vol. 4 World War II to the ladened Fifties (1940-1950s). Detroit Gale, 1997. 235-239. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.The Lottery. Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit Gale, 1997. 139-154. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.Mazzeno, Laurence W. The Lottery. Masterplots II Short Story Series, Revised Edition (2004) 1-2. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.Nelles, William. The Lottery. Masterplots II WomenS Literature Series (1995) 1-3. Literary Reference Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.