...While reading "The Lottery" there where so many things that felt like a symbol but the three symbols that occurred more frequent is: The Lottery, the black box, and the stones. The Lottery: The name itself is the biggest symbol in the story, When you think about a lottery, it is usually about winning something and it is usually something good. The Lottery" was depicted as the biggest and most anticipated ceremony. Although they were other ceremonies like square dancing, teen club and a halloween program. The Lottery brought families and friends together, families and friends gathered together in the square, around the bank and post office. (Jackson 291). Tradition can be anything; from decorating a christmas tree once a year or organizing a family reunion every ten 5 years, all these can be be tradition and it is usually for a good cause. However The Lottery in my opinion was a bizarre tradition, it was not for a good cause and there was not a valid reason behind the tradition. The lottery involved innocently killing someone without being guilty of any sin. Most of the neighboring towns had to stopped participating in the lottery, but the in this village the tradition was still being celebrated....
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...“The Lottery” is a short story that would have most people thinking and feeling good at the beginning. At the end, however, they learn the ironic truth that the reward is death. In the small village, the villagers repeat this horrific tradition of picking a person at random and stoning them to death without question. Jackson shows us how easily and willingly we will follow a tradition for no other reason than that’s just how things are. In her short story “The Lottery”, Shirley Jackson shows us the blind following of tradition and the slow deterioration of the tradition through the use of symbols such as the black box, the Lottery, and Old Man Warner. The black box represents how the villagers really feel about the tradition. Every year they...
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...“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is an excellent example of a symbolic and allegorical short story. This short story is about an annual lottery drawing at a small town in New England. The title itself holds a deep symbolism in this story. A lottery has always provided a sense of hope and adventure to people, but the lottery takes on an entirely different significance in this story. “The Lottery” in this story has been a tradition at this small rural town for many years. This tradition leaves painful death to a winner but the villagers never question to perform this horrible act of murder. The lottery is a symbol that represents as a barbaric and cruel symbol that results in the death of a friend, family, and neighbor. It is also an allegory showing that destructive effects can results from gambling. One of the allegory shows through the description of the characters. Names are used to represent different aspects and certain meaning throughout the story. One of the leaders and most important men of the town is Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers is a bright and cheerful man. His attitude, demeanor, and name represent the summer. He is the owner of coalmine. Coal suggests his ownership with evilness and death. He makes it a happy gathering, conducts all the town’s activities and then is also an executioner. Mr. Graves’s name represents what is about the happen. They are sending someone to their grave at the end of each lottery. His name is representing the irony of evil that implies, a...
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...“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, is one of the most interesting short stories there are. Jackson described her purpose of writing by stating her it as, “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Backpack p. 236). That quote alone is shown throughout “The Lottery” because there is most definitely a shock factor at the end of the story. A reader almost must read it twice to fully comprehend all that goes on in the town square of Jacksons’ story. However, as one reads “The Lottery”, one can identify many comparisons using symbolism and when one reads the story again, one can identify even more symbols. In Shirley Jacksons’ short story, “The Lottery”, there are many different items in the book like names, a three-legged table, a black box, and stones to show symbolism and allegory throughout the story. Jackson places her symbols in a specific order and it is that order in which the symbols have the most impact. The first symbol that comes along in the story is Mr. Summers. Mr. Summers is described as, “a...
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...Brown” and “The Lottery” By: Melissa A. Reeves Professor Andrew Smith ENGL 102-B46 LUO Thesis Statement The stories “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” both appear to show that human behavior and judgment can be flawed, even if the person’s intentions appear good to them. There is a level of fear and underlying evil in Puritan settings in both stories. I. Introduction/Statement of Thesis II. Themes and Author’s Purpose A. The Lottery i. Just because something has always been done, does not make it right or just; following the crowd can be dangerously wrong and evil. ii. The author shows through symbolism and storytelling that people can be easily influenced by society and those around them. iii. Also, the themes or persecution is addressed. B. Young Goodman Brown i. The theme is that believing that you are a righteous person does not always make you righteous. ii. The idea of doing one evil thing, but justifying it because it is only one time and he will never do it again and will be a good man afterward is addressed. III. Conclusion Symbolism found within “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown” Melissa A. Reeves Liberty University Professor Andrew Smith 08/03/2014 Symbolism is found within both stories “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown”. In both stories, symbols help in conveying the theme to the reader. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, symbols are used to help...
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...Young Goodman Brown and the Lottery Symbolism Use In: "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery" The authors, Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, both frequently use symbols within their stories "The Lottery" and "Young Goodman Brown." Symbols are utilized as an enhancement tool to stress the theme of each story. Hawthorne uses names and objects to enhance the theme, and Jackson mainly utilizes names to stress the theme, although she does have one object as a symbol of great importance to the theme. The stories both contain symbols describing evil. The majority of Hawthorne's symbols describe religion (both good and evil), but Jackson’s symbols reflect the evil nature within society as a whole. There exists a symbolic act in each story. The short stories both share the use of symbols, but the symbols are used to express different thoughts in ones mind while reading them. The stories "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery" both use names as symbols. Hawthorne uses the names Young Goodman Brown and Faith to portray nice, descent people. The name Faith alone implies a faithful and Christian individual as stated "And Faith, as the wife was aptly named," (211). Jackson uses the name Mr Graves throughout her story; he is the coordinator of the lottery. She needs not give any explanation to the name, as it speaks for itself (a symbol of death). Various other names are used as symbols within each story; however, these mentioned are the most significant names to the theme. The stories...
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...Fiction Essay ENGL 102 Literature and Composition Fall D 2014 Summer Martin L25637775 APA Formatting Running head: USE OF SYMBOLS TO CONVEY THEME OF STORY Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories Summer Martin Liberty University Online Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories Thesis: The two short stories, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence both use symbols to help the reader understand the theme of the story; however the themes of both stories were completely different, one about love the other the lack of love. I. In “The Lottery” and “The Rocking Horse Winner” both authors use symbols to help convey the central message of the story to their readers. a. In “The Lottery”, Jackson uses the black box to symbolize the villagers’ connection to the tradition of the lottery. i. “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago” The villagers were willing to let some parts of the lottery change but never question why or even think about changing the lottery itself ii. “The black box grew shabbier each year”. Falling apart but villagers show no interest in replacing it iii. The Black box had no significance the rest of the year and could be found in several different locations throughout the town b. In “The Rocking Horse Winner”, Lawrence uses the whispering house and the rocking horse to show how...
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...The short story, “The Lottery”, was written by Shirley Jackson in 1948. Shirley Jackson wrote it while she was living on Prospect Street in North Bennington, Vermont. It took her less than two hours to write this story. “The Lottery” is a story about a sacrifice that’s made on the same day every year where a lottery determines which family, and which individual of the family, gets stoned to death. There are many different pieces of symbolism in this story. One of the items in this story that uses symbolism, and probably the most important, is the black box. It represents the tradition of the lottery and the illogic of the villagers’ loyalty to it. “The black box grew shabbier each year” (2), and it was “splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (2), showing it’s age, meaning that the lottery has been going on for a long, long time. They are unwilling to replace it. They plan on replacing it each year, but they never do. They are attached to it because a story claims that the box is made of pieces of...
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...Excitement lingers through the air when the lottery rolls around in the U.S. Millions of dollars are won and almost no one wants to miss out on the lottery. In most people's minds, the lottery is associated with pride, wealth, and fame, but what if the lottery was associated with execution? In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the lottery takes place in the middle of town in every year. One by one, families step up when their names are called and pull a single slip of paper from the infamous black box- in which the slips of paper lay. As each slip of paper is pulled, people cross their fingers, hoping that they will not be the winner. The lottery may seem like a positive game in which the winner receives riches, but dark secrets await in the black box. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses the black box, stones, and the character's names to symbolize a dark somber mood....
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...The authors Shirley Jackson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, both frequently use different tone, style, symbols, and imagery within their stories “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown.” Symbols are utilized as an enhancement tool to stress the theme of a story. The two short stories written by Jackson and Hawthorne are both thought provoking and full of evil. Many symbols are used to help develop the themes of both of the stories. The short stories both share the use of symbols, tone, style, and imagery to express different thoughts when reading them. Hopefully, by discussing the two short stories, their differences and similarities will be carefully explained. Jackson establishes the setting of "The Lottery" at the beginning of the story. On the morning of June 27th, a sunny and pleasant summer day, in the village...
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...one truly knows where certain traditions came from and just have come the conclusion that they are not meant to question it. In the case of the people in, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, they have the same fear of breaking what has been a lifelong tradition in their town. While the opening scenes depict a glorious day full of happy town members, Jackson is planning on turning the day into a treacherous one by the end of the story. Throughout the story, Jackson is using an array of symbols to give an uneasy feeling to the reader. These symbols are used to help portray the idea that by accepting these traditions can lead to terrible consequences. Looking at the title of this short story is something that is very important to what Jackson is trying to convey within the rest of the story. The lottery, in general, is a celebration of someone who has won. Although it is the case that someone does “win” in Jackson’s story, it is not the kind of winning that most people would celebrate. As for the people within the town, it is more that they are celebrating not being picked as opposed to being the one that has won. By using the lottery as the title of this short story, Jackson is setting the reader up to believe that the end result will be a joyous one but instead it is the exact opposite. This then becomes a symbol of what can happen when traditions are not questioned by future generations. The carefree tone that leads off this story gives the reader no...
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...Professor ENGL 102-B54 LUO 3 February 2014 “The Lottery” vs. “The Rocking-Horse Winner” In “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” by D. H. Lawrence, and “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, the two authors illustrate symbols and themes throughout their stories in which one common idea is present: perhaps winning is not always positive. “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” by D.H. Lawrence is a fictional story about a woman’s obsession for money and the lack of love and affection she shows to her family. Her son Paul hopes to change his mother’s mind-set in order to gain her love by becoming lucky. Paul discovers a way to become lucky from a rocking horse that he receives as a Christmas present. He perceives that this horse has magical powers, which empowers him to predict the winner of horse races. Paul becomes more and more obsessed with becoming lucky to appease his mother but eventually loses his life. “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, is a short story of an annual tradition in which a small New England town randomly draws one person’s name to be the winner of the lottery. This lucky person will neither win money nor a special prize; instead are stoned to death by the rest of the community. This story gives a different meaning to the event called a lottery. D.H. Lawrence proves many points by using the following themes: obsession for money, trying to win a mother’s love and affection, gaining no affection after achieving such luck, and death. "The Rocking-Horse Winner,"...
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...Kim Willen Jim Andrzejewski English Comp 102 2/3/2014 “The Lottery” In the short story “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing and symbols to help understand the story’s major theme through many of the offensive details leading up to the violent but surprising ending. Starting in the second paragraph the children are making a great big pile of stones in the corner, at the square, and Bobby Martin starts stuffing his pockets full of stones while the other boys start following him by example, and selecting certain kinds of stones, the smoothest and roundest they could find. When reading this part in the story one could and would expect that to be completely normal for young boys to do such a thing. Starting off quite and then breaking out into an energetic play. All seems innocent until the real meaning becomes clear at the end when the stones are used to commit a murder. Throughout the story the author also uses symbols to help in understanding the story’s theme. One example is the black box. The black box represents a tradition that has been around for many years and ties into irony, representing death. The color of the box black is even a symbol, which is a universal symbol for evil and death. No one really seems to know when it started or where it came from, but it still remains. The villagers are very loyal and are firm believers that even though the black box is splintered badly, showing its original wood colored, faded and needs to be...
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...In Shirley Jacksons, ‘’The Lottery’’ creates a story that’s filled with symbolism, dramatic irony. Born in 1919 Shirley Jackson was an American author who wrote countless stories one better than the next but her most famous story is ‘’The Lottery’’ written in 1948 for new Yorker magazine the story offended readers because of how it suggested that evil could be carried out so easily and that stoning was a pointless and a violent sacrifice many of them cancelled their subscriptions because of how offensive the story was. Jackson’s use of irony and symbolism is brilliant and it is seen in all her stories. The use of symbolism is very present throughout the whole story. Which has different types of symbols with different types of meanings. Like For example, the representation of the stool that they use to put the black box on or even the black box itself. in “The Lottery’’Shirley Jackson wrote, "...
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...The most intriguing aspect of “The Lottery,” is the ability of the story to topple the reader’s expectations of what is going to happen as people blindly follow ancient rituals. Judging from the title of the work and the first few paragraphs, the reader probably assumes that the story instills a sense of hope and fortune. Based on societal norms, the winner of a lottery is generally rewarded a prize. As the story progresses however, the reader begins to realize that this story isn’t about a normal lottery as we know it. It is an annual gathering to uphold a village tradition in which one person is chosen to be stoned to death. This realization is not what was expected based on the hopeful title and peaceful opening paragraphs of the story....
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