Symbolism in ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The short story ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson describes the events about an annual raffle, set in a town in England. The community has celebrated the ritual for over seventy years. The yearly lottery randomly chooses an individual who is stoned to death by the villagers. It makes death a chance that villagers do not question. Ironically, the lottery is used for stoning rather than winning money or other prizes as it is in other raffles. Shirley uses symbolism to give readers awareness of violent traditions and inhumanity.
The title of the story ‘The Lottery’ is deeply symbolic as Shirley explores various elements of this symbolism to make her story unique and exciting. ‘The Lottery’ symbolizes the indubitable traditions and rituals of the village. The ceremony begins amicably but ends with a painful stoning of an individual that picks a paper without the black spot. This relates to new raffles where tickets are randomly sold, and only the lucky ones win the prize. Moreover, participants do not question the results because it is a game of chances as Tessie Hutchinson resigns to fate after ‘winning’ the lottery, ‘Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her’ (Jackson 7). ‘The Lottery’ ironically symbolizes a raffle that its winner undeniably submits to death by public stoning. The community follows the lottery tradition without questions despite the loss of a citizen each year. Shirley uses this title to symbolize nonsensical activities that happen in our societies without apparent reason or sense. They happen because people believe they have to; some are so inhumane such as racism or gender biasness and violence. A lot of these activities have surpassed reason to the point of simply what has to be done in society.
The new box that replaced the original lottery box is another symbolic item in the story. Despite Mr. Summers advocating for the creation of a new box, the box has been used for a long time, even though it is not the original. “Mr. Summers frequently spoke to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (Jackson 2). This indicates that the villagers value the box highly and consider it the only remaining link to the origin of their lottery tradition. Besides, there is uncertainty about the making of the current lottery box, ‘There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that had preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the rest people settled down to make a village here’ (2). This illustrates the loss of meaning and connection to the lottery ritual. These losses to significance and originality seem to strengthen the tradition among the villagers. Also, the black box, black spot, and the families that draw the paper with the spot are all marks of death or evil. Shirley uses black objects to symbolically foreshadow the ultimate ending of the ceremony, death by stoning.
The prize for winning the raffle in the story, public stoning, is another symbolic aspect of the lottery.
Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box. Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar (6).
Stoning is an execution method used in historical, political, and biblical times. In several biblical stories such as Stephen’s, Paul’s, the victims are innocent despite undeniably undergoing such executions. Besides, firing squads collectively shoots during missions. Shirley uses the case of the whole society punishing an innocent individual for celebrating a worthless tradition. This act symbolizes the innocence of the lottery winner and the fifth in our communities that reinforce beliefs and rituals without contesting facts or truth. Besides, stoning gives the reader a view of the only antagonist in the story as the whole society.
In summary, ‘The Lottery’ has several instances of symbolism. One that spans across the narration is the title, lottery. Shirley depicts a society immersed in its traditions that it does not seek reason or explanations behind the rituals. The ultimate loss is the death of a citizen, which happens every year. The author shows the dangers of backward tradition that our societies face.