Symbolism in the Lottery

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Kathie Daniels 9/28/2014 Symbolism in “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about an annual lottery that is held, in which one person has been randomly chosen to be stoned to death by the people in the village. The purpose of this lottery is to ensure that there is enough rain to have a good crop the following June. The people in the town have been holding this annual lottery for over seventy years. If the town does not hold this lottery, they believe that they will regress into hard times. By using symbolism, Jackson uses names, objects, and the setting to conceal the true meaning and intention of the lottery. The names of each character hold significant meanings in the lottery. Jackson uses symbolic names to indicate and foreshadow what will come after the lottery in conducted. The name Delacroix means “of the cross” in French. In the sentence “The villagers pronounced “Dellacroix” (71) shows that people pronouncing the name Delacroix incorrectly, therefore provoking the Christian symbol of martyrdom. “Summers” is the name of the conductor of the lottery. The lottery happens during the summer and Mr. Summer’s assistant’s name is “Mr. Graves” (71). This hints that there will be a “grave” during “summer.” Jackson uses these names to augur the winner’s prize, a violent stoning from the townspeople. The objects in the story also represent religious and symbolic meanings in the lottery. The sentence “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon after followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (71) shows that young children were picking up smooth stones. Most rocks are jagged, knife-like, and tapered. The reason they were picking up the smoothest stones was because jagged rocks would most likely kill someone more quickly. With smooth stones, it would grant someone a slow
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