Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a story that seeks to paint the picture of how human race will do any horrible act for success. Jackson develops the plot until the end when the reader is presented with a dramatic ending, which to some extent is almost shocking. The lottery is a ritual that takes place in this small town where the winner is stoned to death in the towns square in hopes of a bountiful corn crop come during harvest time. It is a story that, in a way, expresses concern on how mankind's evil nature is hidden behind tradition and the inability to see past it. The town people feel powerless to change or even try to change anything. Likewise, "A Rose for Emily" by William Falkner is a story of a woman named Emily Grierson, who for the greater part of her life was sheltered and controlled by her father. That led to Emily's inability to cope with modern society. She always lived on the shadow of the past and afraid of changing. Moreover, she even clings to the dead. The theme of this story is that people should be willing enough to let go of their past so they may fully embrace the present as they welcome their future. The two authors have employed some literary such as symbolism, foreshadowing, and point of view, in developing their similar themes. .
"The Lottery" employs a lot of symbolism. Through symbolism, the author has successfully represented the human being as being of a nature that is tainted, however, much a person may think they are pure. Objects, the actions of the people, and even the time and names of those who take part in the lottery are symbolic. The black box aptly represents the central idea in the story. The box is painted in black: a color that is symbolic of death. As the reader reads the story, the black box in some way is a type of mystery, but with time, it turns out that it represents doom. The black box is a representation of all the evil acts that this small town has executed both in the past and the one they expect to execute in the future.