Tone And Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Black, white, summer, grave: all of these words have something in common. Each word used by an author creates a tone. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson used tone and symbolism to create a representative story that portrayed struggles that occurred near the time of conception of the story. She used symbolistic words to create a more intricate, underlying story than what was publicized. Throughout the story, character names and objects, symbolic actions, and the countless other details supporting the overall theme of conformity and tradition create a fascinating, but gruesome, experience.

In “The Lottery,” an abundant amount of characters have symbolic meaning. For example, before the event occurred, readers were introduced to the character

The overall act of sacrifice, the method of sacrifice, and the actions of the citizens committing the sacrifice can relate to underlying meanings and create a more in depth, and intense, view of the situation. The idea that the practice of sacrifice in the story is related to the ancient traditions to help aide a good harvest is supported in a quote by Old Man Warner. “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”(Jackson 316). As explained in Amy Griffin’s review of the story, the citizens believed their sins would be eliminated by transferring them into a single body and then sacrificing that body, resulting in a good harvest(Para. 1). The method of sacrifice- stoning- was also symbolic representing an innocent person being executed, referring back to early Christians. Stoning also enforced a group action and avoided one person being the antagonist. Instead, the act of stoning created the idea that the whole society was the antagonist, not just one specific person. The act is seen as a ritual on a group level and not as murder(Griffin para. 4). This idea is what made the actions of the citizens acceptable in their eyes. Even though Mrs. Delacroix had a friendly conversation with Mrs.Hutchinson before the stoning, Delacroix was not reluctant to use the biggest stone when executing Mrs. Hutchinson. The detachment from reality portrayed is a perfect example of the theme of the story. The citizens