The Lottery 
The lottery is a short story that cruelly documents the annual sacrifice of an unlucky townsperson. The majory of the story is the process of selecting the townsperson being sacrificed. This process is called the lottery. Jackson uses an abundant amount of symbols throught her story which perfectly convey the inhuman tradition that is the lottery. The two main symbols Jackson uses are the townspeople’s names, and the objects used to conduct the lottery.
The names assigned to the townspeople play a huge role in the story. For example Delacroix means the cross. In the story Mrs. Delacroix seems to be the friend of Tessie Hutchinson, but in the end like the rest of the town turns on Mrs. Hutchinson. Mrs. Delacroix has nothing against Mrs. Hutchinson but she is so accustome to participating in the tradidion that she helps to kill her. The symbolism here is obvious. The cross is known as an positive Godly thing, but even that can turn on you in the name of tradition
Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves also have very symbolic names. Mr. Summers organizes and runs the lottery. His name is representative of the lottery itself, which occurs every summer. Jackson makes sure her readers know the lottery is an annual tradition. Old Man Warner quotes, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (232). Mr. Graves, is the towns postman. He helps Mr. Summers conduct the tradition of picking the unlucky lottery winner. Just as he is apart of the lottery, his name symbolizes death, which also is a part of the lottery process.
The next significant symbol in the story would be the black box. The black box symbolizes the end. Its color portrays a certain absoluteness that the reader picks up on. Inside the black box lies a townspersons chosen fate. The box also helps represent the tradition of the lottery. It is mentioned in the story that the present box had been made with pieces of the elder box. Now the present box is looking more and more worn and Mr. Summers realizes the town needs a new
The names assigned to the townspeople play a huge role in the story. For example Delacroix means the cross. In the story Mrs. Delacroix seems to be the friend of Tessie Hutchinson, but in the end like the rest of the town turns on Mrs. Hutchinson. Mrs. Delacroix has nothing against Mrs. Hutchinson but she is so accustome to participating in the tradidion that she helps to kill her. The symbolism here is obvious. The cross is known as an positive Godly thing, but even that can turn on you in the name of tradition
Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves also have very symbolic names. Mr. Summers organizes and runs the lottery. His name is representative of the lottery itself, which occurs every summer. Jackson makes sure her readers know the lottery is an annual tradition. Old Man Warner quotes, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (232). Mr. Graves, is the towns postman. He helps Mr. Summers conduct the tradition of picking the unlucky lottery winner. Just as he is apart of the lottery, his name symbolizes death, which also is a part of the lottery process.
The next significant symbol in the story would be the black box. The black box symbolizes the end. Its color portrays a certain absoluteness that the reader picks up on. Inside the black box lies a townspersons chosen fate. The box also helps represent the tradition of the lottery. It is mentioned in the story that the present box had been made with pieces of the elder box. Now the present box is looking more and more worn and Mr. Summers realizes the town needs a new