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

Mr. Dunbar. While he was not physically at the event, he created a disturbance(Jackson 314-315). As defined by Dictionary.com, the word dun means dark or gloomy and bar means to prevent or hinder. His name symbolized the hindering of a dark occurrence; hence the scene where Mr. Dunbar’s absence creates a postponement of the disturbing event. Another example is Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves; each character is symbolized by a different tone and essentially creates a balance of the mood presented in the story. Mr. Summers’ name creates a light, happy mood, while Mr. Graves’ name creates a more “grave,” dark mood(Jackson 316). The happy warm environment balances out the dark act being committed. In Amy Griffin’s review of “The Lottery,” called “Jackson’s The Lottery,” the balance between each mood is described in a saying: ”Life brings death, and death recycles life”(Griffin Para. 2). While there are other examples of symbolic character names, some objects and actions are also symbolic.
The objects, such as the black box and white papers with black dots, and the three-legged stool can all be considered symbolic. The color black is considered to be the color of death and punishment. The black color of the box is anything but a coincident, as is the worn nature(Jackson 313). The condition of the box clearly reflects the condition of the tradition as a whole, as it is a worn and fading practice. The black dot on the paper also could potentially be symbolic. The black mark could possibly signify something negative and unclean such as sin, like in some religious beliefs. Finally, the three-legged stool, carried by Mr. Graves, could understandably be viewed as a symbol of the Blessed Trinity or the past, the present, and the future(313). Symbolism is not limited to objects, but it can also be portrayed in the actions that occur in a story.
The actions that take place during “The Lottery” can also be considered symbolistic.

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

were willing to turn a blind eye towards humanity in order to conform to the traditions of the past. Griffin portrayed this theme accurately in her last statement. “Although civilized people may no longer hold lotteries, Jackson’s story illustrates that society’s tendency toward violence and its tendency to hold onto tradition, even meaningless, base tradition, reveal our need for both ritual and belonging”(Griffin Para. 5).
The diction used in “The Lottery”, the objects described, and the actions that took place are all symbols of a deeper meaning. Jackson used her work to dramatize the situation present in her post-World War II environment. “She responded that she wanted to dramatize graphically the “pointless violence” in people’s lives, to reveal the general inhumanity of man”(Griffin para. 4). The symbolic names, objects, and actions were used to help support the theme of conformity and blind tradition. Black, white, summer, and grave all have one thing in common- an interesting story.