The title itself is symbolic irony, because “the lottery” means good luck, but in this story means dead. Along with many other examples of symbolism, the three legged stool, the black box etc. The author uses the characters names to insinuate the true nature of the character and to foreshadow Tessie’s murder. Mrs. Delacroix for example is Latin for, of the cross, this invokes thoughts of sacrifice and dead. The Postmaster Graves means all things related to death.
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 Shirley Jacksons “The lottery”, the author portrays use of many themes throughout the story. Examples of themes in “The Lottery” include, traditional values, following the crowd can lead to dangerous consequences and the third theme which caught my attention was, . Shirley Jackson portrays these themes using a light tone in her short story but as a reader, I noticed not only a dark ending but also dark themes to this short story. The first theme that came across my mind as I was scanning thorough the short story was, traditional values. In relation to this theme, the “old man Warner ‘’ is a perfect symbol of tradition.
English 101-web Professor Peterson 09-26-2011 The Lottery:Irony In this short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, there are many instances of irony found. Irony is when the literal meaning of the text is hidden by what the author wrote. There are several kinds of irony, the two most common are verbal and situational. Most of the examples found in “The Lottery” are situational irony. Situational irony exists in a story when a discrepancy occurs in what the character or characters think will happen and what actually happens.
A Dusty Tradition Shirley Jackson delivers a riveting message in her tale “The Lottery,” which packs a heavy blow to the roots of far-outdated traditions in today’s modern world. This work speaks volumes about the unwillingness of most people to let go of customs and embrace not only modern ideology but even moral integrity. Although the theme of this story seems to be quite simply and obviously about tradition, there are some minor aspects of this story to break down which all root back to the central idea. These sub-themes include the willingness of people to follow suit without question, the unpredictability of “winning,” the shifting of priorities under pressure, and most importantly the level of comfort that the villagers display in such a morally heinous act. It is clear that Jackson placed much effort into creating a scene of excitement, eagerness, and anxiety in this year’s lottery.
Stoppard deviates from the conventional themes of the genre as he does not intend to take the genre seriously initially. Although his work is successful where Stoppard comments strongly on crime writing, he refers to The Real Inspector Hound as a ‘jokey play’ where it has been criticised for not having the same quality as his other works. However he employs elements of cosy including the rigid use of a clue-puzzle literary game with an initial crime, a detective, character impersonation, suspects and clues, red herrings, specific settings and a dénouement. Through imitating key features of The Mousetrap composed by Agatha Christie, this enables Stoppard to employ certain conventions of cosy while simultaneously swaying from other elements in order to create a satirical play and comment on the genre as a whole. Stoppard uses his play to mock the conventions of cosy crime fiction as some believe theatrical whodunits are inevitably shallow and dull thus Stoppard only delineates the obvious.
This tradition is unbearably horrific. The villagers’ blind acceptance of the “lottery” has allowed sacramental murder to become part of their town’s fabric. As they have demonstrated, they feel powerless to change, everyone has accepted the fact that this is just how the town is supposed to be run, although there is no one forcing them to keep things the same. Villagers persecute individuals at random, and the victim is guilty of no transgression other than having drawn the wrong slip of paper from a box. The elaborate ritual of the lottery is designed so that all villagers have the same chance of becoming the victim.
However, a person is about to get chosen to get stoned to death. Moreover, the term, lottery, is usually defined as getting chosen in a positive event, ironically, the lottery in the story is seen as a misfortune pick of death. The story also delivers irony through the character, Old Man Warren, while he criticizes the people who quit lotteries “pack of young fools”. Jackson also wrote, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (pg.80) in order to deliver an ironic tone through her role of a narrator. The story also contains several examples of symbolisms.
Literal and Symbolic Meanings of “The Lottery” An allegory is a story that has two meanings, a symbolic and a literal. Throughout the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson the story takes on a disturbing literal meaning which begins to reveal figurative meanings as well. The title, the village tradition, and the townspeople illustrate literal meanings adding to the plot and a symbolic meaning that creates a tone of darkness. “The Lottery” is a short story about a village of people who begin to gather for an annual tradition. The story opens with a mundane tone as if nothing out of the ordinary is going to happen.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is rich with symbolism relating to the theme of the story. One of these symbols is the black box. The black box is the box that the townspeople draw from in “The Lottery”. It is a crucial part of the ritual and by analyzing it, a thing or two can be learnt about the theme of the effects of mob psychology and the dangers of tradition in the story. The primary purpose of the black box is to hold the pieces of paper.