Exposing Traditions Disturbing Grip: Symbols in The Lottery

Name Instructor Course Date The Lottery "The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson about a small town in the contemporary United States. An annual rite commonly known as the lottery is carried out whereby a member of this particular community is selected by chance. Jackson has used symbolism in the short story to add meaning to the story using events and objects to represent other things. This essay aims to discuss three symbols that the author has used to create awareness to the reader about the meaningless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. The first symbol that the author has used is the title and the focus of the whole event, the lottery. The lottery is a tradition that has been taking place in this particular community, and no one has ever dared to question. The lottery acts as an example of what happens when traditions are not questioned or addressed by the new generations. The lottery could represent the government as it is in the modern world. People meet after some time to engage in a national exercise like voting, just like this particular community met for the lottery. First, just like in the voting, the lottery stipulated that some guidelines had to be followed and obeyed at all costs (Jackson, 9). Some of these exercises are well articulated by individuals who want to remain in power and brainwash others to engage in exercises that benefit just but a few (Hakaraia, 96-98). The leaders develop rules and regulations regarding exercis