Analyzing Shirley Jackson's 'The Lottery'

​In "The Lottery," author Shirley Jackson establishes a great contrast between the normal cheeriness of everyday life with a deeply morose, corrupted practice. The shocking turn towards death startles readers, effectively causing them to question the function of tradition within a society. In Jackson's "The Lottery," the author uses emblematic characterization, discordant imagery, and morbid symbolism; illustrating that unquestioned tradition can lead to stubborn resistance to change and moral decay.

​Jackson effectively employs a nonspecific, widely relatable method of characterization, as well as a few meaningful names, in order to allow the reader to empathize with the characters; proving that humanity can identify with the inability to

accept change, which leads to the festering of corruption. Throughout the story, the author withholds extremely specific details about the characters; rather, they remain vague, such as Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner being portrayed as grumpy and stubborn. The families described, like the Martins and the Hutchinsons, are easily identified with; the reader can effortlessly imagine their own family or their own neighborhood's "Old Man Warner." By using only vague, somewhat stereotypical characters, Jackson allows her reader to relate every character to a person in their own lives.

The audience can place itself in the shoes of the characters, imagining real people who resemble the same roles as the characters; this enables the desperate fear to come alive to the reader and emphasizes the lack of morality in this deep-rooted tradition. In contrast, the author uses purposeful names, specifically with Mr. Graves. His name plays on the morbidity of the tradition, in addition to foreshadowing the twisted, morose ending (Jackson). The Delacroix family presents an interesting hidden meaning. The term means "of the cross" in French, yet the way Jackson purposefully distorted the pronunciation symbolizes a twisted version of the Christian symbol. This correlates with the tradition, which may have originally been a reverent, necessary practice, but has now become an immoral habit. The scholarly essay retrieved on UKessays' online page reflects on the symbolic meaning of the name Delacroix, saying that "the church, usually seen as a positive influence, can sometimes turn on a person in the name of ritual and tradition" (UKessays). Additionally, the fact that Mr. Adams is the first to stone Mrs. Hutchinson is

extraordinarily representative of another Biblical reference. According to the Bible, Adam was the first to sin, leaving all of humanity to follow in his steps. Likewise, Mr. Adams was the first to throw the stone, and the whole town follows his example (UKessays). By using these evocative names and employing relatable characterization, Jackson allows for the reader to empathize with the characters in order to experience for themselves the horrifying corruption and deadening of feeling as a result of unjust ritual.
​In addition to this effective characterization, Shirley Jackson uses contrasting imagery, creating juxtaposition between the setting and the plot and furthering the idea of indifference to morality caused by an inability to change with the times.

The whole first paragraph creates a tone of peacefulness, joy, and well-being. It describes "the fresh warmth of a full-summer day," presenting the lottery as just another day (Jackson). Jackson furthers this image with details of blossoming flowers and the rich color of the grass, allowing the reader to vividly picture the scene, and perhaps enabling them to imagine this place in their own community. The author writes that "it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner," demonstrating the hardened hearts of the citizens (Jackson). To them, it has become just another day. The annual, depraved event has become so normal in their society that it blinds them to the blatant immorality festering among them. Jackson's juxtaposed imagery produces irony, emphasizing the fact that the lottery has corrupted their society almost unnoticedly. The townsmen's inability to accept change keeps them trapped in the idealism of the warmth and freshness of the summer day, blinding them to the obvious depravity in front of

them.
​Lastly, Jackson's utilization of morbid symbolism through the black box and the stones illustrate the lack of morality allowed to survive in unchanging tradition. The black box from which Mr. Graves keeps the slips of papers is described as almost crumbling: "the black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained"(Jackson). The condition of the black box mirrors the condition of the society; time has worn the town's sense of right and wrong, allowing them to be preserved, without realization, in a state of corruption. Their community is falling apart, but "no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box"(Jackson). Additionally, the stones collected by the children sadly represent a loss of innocence introduced so early into the lives of the town's children. Even Mrs. Hutchinson's children tragically participate in stoning her, illustrating that people are willing to go to murderous extents in order to blindly follow tradition, sacrificing both morality and innocence (Jackson).
​Conclusively, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" effectively demonstrates the dangers a corrupted tradition poses to the morality of society and its ability to welcome change through the use of relatable characterization, juxtaposed imagery, and morose symbolism. David Mechelson writes that "the arbitrary violence that punctuates the end of the story serves to reinforce the author's highly negative opinion of some traditions and human beings' willingness to uphold them--even to murderous ends" (Michelson). When a tradition is forced into a community, humanity's unwillingness to question its authority can become a danger to society. Humanity's innate sense of evil becomes prominent when promoted by unquestioned immoral social traditions, causing the mankind's ethical decay.