What Are The Symbols In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Symbol

In the story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a small village of about 300 residents are nervous but excited on the morning of June 27. Children gather stone as adults assemble for the annual event, the lottery. The lottery starts off with each head of the households draw slips until every head of the household have a slip for the first round. Bill Hutchinson gets the slip with the black dot which means his family has been chosen. The second round, each member of the family draws a sip. Tessie, Bills wife gets the slip with the mark and in tradition each villager obtains a stone and begins to surround Tessie. The story ends with Tessie being stoned to death. Sometimes things stand for something beyond itself. It has a symbolic meaning. Jackson uses the stones, the black box, and the marked piece of paper to represent an idea she wants to explore. It’s the exploration of these symbols which makes the story so interesting.

The first symbolic meaning throughout the story is the stones. The stones that villagers use to kill selected members by the lottery are mentioned periodically throughout the story. The repetition develops the

The black box is a container the villagers use to draw the slips of paper for the lottery, and for tradition. The box is worn and old, but villagers don’t want to replace it and mess up tradition, even though it’s not even the original box. The black box is the villager’s connection to the tradition. When the subject of replacing the box comes up, “No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box”. (#237) The box is an artifact, and just like all artifacts, its historically and culturally important to its people. The box is a symbol to the villagers of the longevity of their tradition. Never considering that those traditions might be immoral, the black box lends confidence to the villagers because it reminds them to trust in the tradition of their