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Analysis: "The Lottery" (essay on a short story) comp 2

It goes on to say, "the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green" (271). The plethora of figurative language used in the opening sentences of "The Lottery" also sets the setting to be a nice and inviting place. The people gathered in the town square around ten o"clock (271). This is important because the town square is between the post office and the bank (271), which would be the center of the small town's economy.
             The setting was also symbolic in the way that the town was the center of the economy symbolizing that this ritual was a big part of the town's life and history. "The post master Mr. Graves followed him, carrying a three-legged stool, and that stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box on it"(272). The three-legged stool was symbolic because the number three is symbolizes the Holy Trinity. The stool was placed in the center of the town square symbolizes that religion is an important part of the townspeople's lives. The black box that was placed on top of the stool was also a symbol. The color black is closely associated with death. The black box foreshadows that something bad is going to happen. Inside that black box were slips of paper and one had a black dot on it. The black dot was also a symbol of death and again which foreshadows the bad that would follow later in the story. The names of the characters in the story are also symbolic. For example, Mr. Graves was symbolic for the grave situation that was later to come or even symbolic of an actual grave. Mr. Summers is also symbolic because it was summer and summer is a time of warmth and happiness. Next, Mrs. Delacroix's name is symbolic because it means "of the cross" in French. Finally, Old Man Warner's name is a symbol of the old ways and the unshakable faith in them. .
             The character's names are not the only thing that gives one insight into the underlying message of the story; the character's words and actions also help the reader to understand.


Essays Related to Analysis: "The Lottery" (essay on a short story) comp 2

1. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

(About Jackson 2) When a writer composes a short story, some may have a meaning and others may not. ... The quote is taken from Shirley Jackson's, The Lottery, which is one short story the has a very difficult meaning to be understood . ... The Lottery was written in 1948, seven years after Shirley Jackson wrote her first short story, My Life with RH Macy (About Jackson 2). ... August 8, 1965, three years after her last short story We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson died (About Jackson 2). ... According to critics, people would not have understood the meaning...

  • Word Count: 1660
  • Approx Pages: 7
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2. Irony in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The short story, "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, is about small village that has a dark tradition. ... Little do the readers know, the lottery in the story's case, is being stoned to death. ... Graves made up slips of paper and put them in the box"(2). ... This is completely ironic as Old Man Warner thinks it is right to have the lottery, but if any right-minded person were to read this short story, they would think the lottery is completely wrong and barbaric. ... The short story was filled with irony right from the title to the last sentences....

  • Word Count: 1411
  • Approx Pages: 6
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3. The Lottery

Garrison 25 October 2002 A Close Encounter with Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a story in which the setting sets up the reader to think of positive outcomes. ... From the beggining Jackson takes great pains to present her short story as a folk story. ... The men in "The Lottery" are "speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes". ... The gender status in "The Lottery" is women are treated at a lower status than men. ... Children are an important focus in "The Lottery". ...

  • Word Count: 801
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. The Lottery

A Close Encounter with Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a story in which the setting sets up the reader to think of positive outcomes. ... From the beggining Jackson takes great pains to present her short story as a folk story. ... The men in "The Lottery" are "speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes". ... The gender status in "The Lottery" is women are treated at a lower status than men. ... Children are an important focus in "The Lottery". ...

  • Word Count: 796
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Lottery - Literary Analysis

It was the first short story that she wrote that received widespread attention by readers. "The Lottery," is a very twisted story. ... In the short story, "The Lottery," Jackson uses the black box, Old Man Warner, and Tessie Hutchinson as symbols to show that humans will blindly follow meaningless traditions. ... The black box was mentioned several times in the story, in detail, and people did not want to get a new box even though it was shabby and worn out. Towards the beginning of the story the reader is told, "Mr. ...

  • Word Count: 975
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6. Outrage and Confusion - Shirley Jackon's The Lottery

On June 28th 1948, when Shirley Jackson's bone chilling short story, "The Lottery,"" was published, the feedback was not what Jackson presumed. ... The Lottery is a short story about an annual tradition, it is a random selection of one person and that chosen person is stoned to death by the people of the town. The Lottery created so much outrage in the readers simply because the story was written shortly after World War II, the lottery could be cancelled but instead it goes on and the story ended rapidly and appalling. ... The Lottery is a horrifying but exciting short story written a few...

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7. Symbolism in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery,"" is a short story about an annual lottery drawing in a small rural town that has been held for over seventy-seven years. ... The names of each character hold a significant meaning to the plot of the story. ... The name Summers is the sir name of the lottery officiate. His name symbolizes the time the lottery is conducted; summer time on June 27. ... They are used to brutally stone the villager who has won the lottery. ...

  • Word Count: 686
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8. Evil YGB and The Lottery

In "Young Goodman Brown" and "The Lottery", both of these short stories use symbols of names as marks of evil. ... In "Young Goodman Brown", Faith is used to express a religious and faithful person to her Christianity as implied in the short story. ... Graves runs the Lottery throughout the short story. ... At the beginning of the story, the kids started to fill there pockets with stones, for the lottery. ... I especially liked "The Lottery" because there was alot of evil in mankind in that story. ...

  • Word Count: 1021
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9. Conflicts in The Lottery

"The Lottery, " by Shirley Jackson is a story about a small town that participates in an annual untraditional lottery event. Traditionally, the word "lottery" usually involves winning something like money or prizes, but in this particular story, the untraditional lottery winning means someone will lose their life. ... Hutchinson is a middle-aged housewife, mother of four children, and also the main, dynamic character of the story. ... She set a dynamic tone to the story because she went from being supportive to becoming advocate against the lottery system. ... The story sh...

  • Word Count: 670
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