Having an astonishing and terrifying plot, the short story under analysis represents a particular interest, as it is permeated with a wide scope of literary tools employed to expose the author’s intention and deep sense behind the lines. One of the most significant means of sense creation and development in the story is symbolism. This literary element is considered to be the core of the short story, and it saturates the text with the conceived meaning, mood, attitude, effect.
Though Sherley Jackson in her “The Lottery” (2008) illustrates an ordinary bucolic environment, its antihumanistic rituals appear to be notorious for a herdlike behavior and habitual violence embedded in the society for centuries. The regular small village residents are illustrated as ingrained in barbarous traditions and exceptionally cruel, since they unfeelingly raise a hand and voice against their bloody relatives and dearest people. In addition, the horrific effect is actualized and strengthened by means of symbols. The most vivid objects and phenomena that are abundant with symbolic meaning are square, black box and black spot. The square usually symbolizes the public place for different kind of gatherings, votings and meetings and where all community issues are addressed, discussed and resolved. Most commonly on squares people are either publicly praised and honored or publicly condemned. Thus, this place has a tight connection to community, since it usually serves as a center of actions, positive or negative ones. Although the mood of the gathering process is rather good and symbolizes energy and life itself, it has a fatal outcome for the winner of the lottery.
The second symbol depicted in the short story in question is the black box. Firstly, what comes into mind is its color. The black color has a symbolic meaning of something bad and unpleasant, something dark and terrifying, much like the souls of the characters of the story. Secondly, the black box represents an allusion to the widely-known Pandora box, where misfortune, worriment and distress, or in other words, everything evil, frightful and sinful rests. This symbol is also related and characteristic to the society in general, since misery affects people relatively equally and, moreover, there are always a great part of some bad people who spoil a society. The last but not the least is that the box is a symbol of dedication to the tradition and its longevity, as it was changed only once and was not diminished in importance for many years. It means that the sin and evil interpenetrated into this society a long time ago with such tradition and is still ruining the people from inside.
The other significant symbol is a black spot on the slip of the paper, which goes to a “winner”. It has a long history from the times of pirates when they used it to awe or show judgment to the person who receives this mark. Similarly in the short story, according to the rules of the lottery, the one who draws it, is sentenced to death. What is more, as being a sign of condemnation, it also symbolizes the attitude of the society to its outwals.
As a result, applying an extensive toolkit of symbols Shirley Jackson discloses her truthful point of view on society, which due to stereotyped visions, traditions and rituals ruins the democratic and humanistic beliefs of people. It fully neglects such concepts as personality, loyalty, freedom, rights, etc. The peculiarity of the story is that a usual ceremony of lottery smoothly turns into a matter of life or death and always results in a wilful homicide. This is the worst outcome ever. The author is trying to reflect the intolerance of society, which can raise family members against each other, and oppression of the obsessed crowd, which appear to be lethal for “the black-marked.”
Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato: Creative Education, 2008. Print
