Uncovering The Hidden Meaning In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

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Uncovering the Hidden Meaning: Symbolism In Writing The use of symbolism in Shirley Jackson’s story, “The Lottery,” was essential to the expression of the story. As the story progresses, the audience learns of the town's peculiar tradition. The reader is left to determine the reason behind the tradition and is not given a direct answer. In a seemingly friendly town, the symbols reveal darker truths about the community and human nature in following traditions. The black box and the marked slips of paper may seem as simple as just part of the tradition, but they are actually heavy messages about the danger that can come from blindly following traditions. Through her subtle symbolism that Jackson scattered throughout the text, she brings up pressing …show more content…

Its appearance is nothing short of shabby. But no matter how ugly this box looks, the townspeople still give it the utmost respect and reverence. In the story it states “Every year, after the lottery, Mrs Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anythings’ being done.” (Jackson 267). The box's deteriorating appearance shows the decrepit tradition that is no longer serving the town in the slightest. But no matter the damage caused by the tradition, the town continues to praise the heritage of the tradition. This symbolizes the suffocation that tradition will have on those who follow them unquestioned. The tradition of the lottery itself shows the obvious problems that can arise from unquestioned conformity. It also symbolizes the cruelty that lies behind ordinary practices. No matter the harm the townspeople caused to one another, their friends or family, or the risk they faced with themselves being harmed in the process, they took that risk every year just to simply follow in the footsteps of those before them. The townspeople showed their comfort in the violence, in the story it states “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use

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