Symbolism in “The Lottery”

This literature is filled with a lot of symbolism. Shirley Jackson, the narrator, tells us about rituals and traditions using things like the lottery and the black box. Now days, everyone wants to win the lottery. However, in this story, the lottery is something which people do not want to win. This story begins in a small village on a sunny summer day. There are several main characters who controls the affairs related to the Lottery. Shirley Jackson’s character symbolized the human cruelness and evil nature in this story, which can compare to now days.
Mr. Summer is one of the main characters. He is a man who serves as an authoritarian in the village. Because he is the owner of the coal company, he has the financial power to produce the event and still has family problems that people think his pity. His role is to keep the tradition of the lottery going. The lottery touches the evil nature deep inside of people and results in tragic endings. However, he has never played the lottery. Mr. Summer represents many authority figures in today’s marketplace. For instance, according to cnet.com, “WITHDRAW YOUR FUNDS NOW! Bank of America declares bankruptcy.” March 2005. “cnet news” 15 Feb. 2009. . CEOs can mismanage money, ask for bailouts, and still don’t understand their roles in the misfortunes of their company’s. This relates to the position of Mr. Summer in the lottery event.
The old Man Waner is another main character in this story. He participated in this event seventy-seven times and tells us that the tradition of the event has faded. He seems to be a very superstitious man who just follows the tradition. He warns people that there is an unknown danger if the ritual were to stop. Even though people have forgotten the traditional, they still remember how to use stones. This shows that peoples’ natures never change. This is the evil nature that people have. Now days, the economy has grown and technology also has advanced. However, there are wars and crimes happening all the time.
When Mrs. Hutchinson got a paper that had a black spot on it, she insisted that it was not fair because she was a complainer. She would naturally find an excuse to complain about anything. This is about how ego’s are covered by hypocrisy. Kids in the village liked that they did not win the lottery. Mrs. Hutchinson and her husband announced that were the people who got the paper with the black spot on it. People did not care about Mrs. Hutchinson’s complaint, instead, they paid no attention to her and enjoyed the event. Mrs. Dellacroix, who had a good relationship with her, along with the villagers stoned Mrs. Hutchinson for winning the lottery. Even little baby Dave threw a stone. This represents cruelty of human nature. When people felt comfortable and at ease about not winning the lottery, they began to enjoy the event.
The symbolism in this story makes the reader think deeply about selfishness and cruelty. In this story, people do not care about the person who wins the lottery unless they get a paper that has a black spot on it. According to the narrator, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still remembered to use stones” (123, Jackson). The people felt at ease as long as they were not the one’s hit by stones. The characters that Shirley Jackson used in this story are similar many people today, but you just don’t realize it until a situation occurs that causes them to show their real characters. The people in this story worried about getting a paper with a black spot on it. If that never occurred, they had no reason to worry, which means people do not want to personally experience have bad things, but they are comfortable watching others experience misfortunes.




















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Cnet.com, “WITHDRAW YOUR FUNDS NOW! Bank of America declares bankruptcy.” March 2005. “cnet news” 15 Feb. 2009. .

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 8th ed. 123.