Religious meanings in the Lottery
A tradition is the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication. It can also be viewed as a body of unwritten religious precepts. With this definition, we look at Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” as an outdated tradition where Jackson expresses her feelings of this ritual through the use of symbolism. In the short story, the township refuses to evolve with the world and chooses to continue to indulge in the practice of rituals such as stoning to death. Jackson chooses to speak out against such practices by bringing emphasis on it through the means of symbols in names, the black box, spot and a three-legged stool and finally in the person of Tessie Hutchinson specifically. She uses these to show the lack of humanity in the town their concerns with traditions and rituals than the overall man. The character’s names play a large role in the short story. Beginning with Mr. Summers, his name is a representation the season and of the lottery itself. Summer comes annually as does the lottery. It’s held annually on the 27th of June. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were b
Black is also associated with the spot on the sheet of paper that the undeserving family picked. This black spot is symbolic as a mark of death. The family member that drew the black spot was the one death would come to. Because this spot was black, it made you think of the darkness of the whole idea of the lottery. “It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office (352). The black spot made with the black heavy pen in a black, dark place, the coal-company office. In holding onto this tradition of the lottery, there had to be a victim, Tessie Hutchinson. It is in this character that Jackson makes her feelings the clearest. Tessie symbolizes sin within the community. She bears the sins of the entire village. Like Jesus, she has to take upon the sins of the whole village in order for the ritual to be complete. The village must show that the sins and disobedience of the town will not be tolerated. These villagers won’t rebel against the ritual of the lottery; therefore, they take these frustrations out on the scapegoat. “Although the villag
Some topics in this essay:
Beginning Summers,
Tessie Hutchinson,
Shirley Jackson’s,
Shirley Jackson,
Ghost Jackson,
,
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story “the lottery”,
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short story “the,
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Approximate Word count = 953
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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