Symbolism In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Matsuo Basho presented their thought and idea in the form of short story and poems. Their writings were mostly linked with each other because they were based on history, tradition, and nature of people and places.

Shirley Jackson “The Lottery,” main idea was based on tradition and history. The writer used symbolism to introduce the idea of “Black box”. “Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery,” Old man Warner said as he went through the crowd. “Seventy-seventh time.”(419), “The lottery” was an important tradition and it was carried for a very long time because the black box was old and it was mentioned in the story that the box was made from the remaining of the box before this one. Thus, the poem portrays the idea of tradition, long history and good and wise people. The writer also used the black box as a symbol to create interest about the “object”, so that readers dig deep to understand the theme of the story. The word black box was mentioned in the story many times.
History proves teenagers have a long tradition of dropping out. “We real cool. We left School.” (732) The writer is deeply sorrowing because she sees teenagers making big mistakes, not taking responsibility instead doing inappropriate things in the society. The poem also portrays the idea of gentle scolding on their behavior. “Jazz June. We die soon.” (733) The word “we” is repeated in every single line, which is an example of “alliteration”. The poet is repeatedly trying to explain the bad influence society puts on teenagers, and the bad outcomes to joining gangs, example- death. In conclusion, the history, and current tradition is an example of how people still practice the idea of not finishing education and working with gangs or low wages job of their