An Analysis of the Symbolism and Irony in “the Lottery”

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An Analysis of the symbolism and Irony in “The Lottery”
In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the uses symbolism is throughout the entire story which give an overall hint of the end story. The Story title by itself alone is a big symbolism along with name of the characters, the black box and stool it stood on, and the winner are all used as symbolism in the story. The character’s names symbolize their position and role in the story. All of the symbols in her short story are hint to death and religious beliefs which foreshadows the way the story end. A traditionally lottery is usually a drawing of some sorts that is associated with fun and success, and a chance to win prizes, which only good can come from it. In this story the lottery that takes place is an ironic symbol that starts out like any other traditional known lottery but as the story continues start to change it conception then ends up in tragedy. At first the lottery did not seem like it was any different from any conventional lottery. The men of the households were the one doing the drawing since they were the head of the family. They represented not only their self, but fate of their family. The lottery drawing first chooses the family first. The second then one chooses member of the family. The association with the lottery and abundance of corn began to suggest some kind of human sacrifice, in which the sacrificed will bring a lot of corn,'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' (250)

Instead of someone winning a conventional prize, the lottery was held to choose who will be chosen to be stone to death. For the villagers the lottery was a long tradition that they were not ready to give up.
The names of the character in the story symbolize hints of the character roles and tragic end of the story. Mr. Summer, summer symbolizes maturity and knowledge, owned a coal company with no children, and was

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