The Dark Symbolism of Tradition in “The Lottery” by Ava Kuang (G8) The Dark Symbolism of Tradition in “The Lottery” By Ava Kuang Grade 8 How can communities blindly follow traditions without questioning their use and origin? Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” is a shocking example on how ordinary people can participate in “crimes” as tradition. At the first glance, the story takes place in a small, peaceful village gathering for an annual event, seeming harmless. However, by the end of the ritual, the dark truth behind it gets exposed, as the villagers draw names out of a black box to see whose name has the black dot on their paper. This “winner” will then be killed by the rest of the villagers by throwing stones at them. In “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses tone to create a contrast between the village’s peaceful appearance and the violent reality of the lottery by using dialogue and suspenseful descriptions, the symbolism of the black box, and children collecting stones to convey how societies can continue violence under the mask of tradition. To start off, Jackson uses dialogue and suspenseful descriptions to create peaceful atmosphere in the village, sharply contrasting the violent reality of the lottery. The story begins with a scene filled with life and nature, on a sunny day, “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny… the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 1). This imagery creates a calm feeling to start the book, as readers can almost be wondering, “What will go wrong on a bright sunny day?” This creates a false sense of peace and safeness in the village, foreshadowing that something is going to go wrong, igniting the element of suspense. The villagers’ casual interactions reinforce the mood, gathering at the square, treating the lottery as a regular social event. Even Mr. Summers, who conducts the ceremony, speaks in a composed manner, “’Well, now,’ Mr. Summers said soberly, ‘guess we better get started, get this over with, so’s we can go back to work. Anybody ain’t here?’” (Jackson 9). “Soberly” means calmly and cooly, without rush. If Mr. Summers was announcing “soberly”, readers can feel relaxed in a way too because there is nothing threatening happening, he is just a chill guy talking. This ordinary dialogue and tone unprepared readers for the 180 degree turn they will experience by the end of the story. Jackson’s calm and unthreatening tone emphasizes the contrast between the village’s peaceful appearance and its dark reality. Along with dialogue and descriptions, Jackson includes the symbolism of the black box to juxtapose the calm, countryside town with the dark side of the lottery. In the middle of the story, the narrators tells the readers, “Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box,” (Jackson 5). This clearly shows how much the black box is respected and is very accustomed to in the story. Even though no reason is given why, the villagers do not want to replace it, revealing their attachment to an irrational object. The villagers’ fear of change from their tradition is completely taken over their brains, causing them not to even question why they are doing this lottery, and where it came from. The black box all the villagers see is “shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (Jackson 5). The village on the outside seems very peaceful and colorful, an ideal countryside town, just like a picture. But in reality, the black box’s deteriorating condition is being linked to what the soul of the village is actually like on the inside. The black box symbolizes the heavy corruption disguised by tradition and routine. Last but not least, Jackson incorporates the innocent portrayal of children collecting the stones to show the normalization of violence in their village. In the beginning of the story, the children are described as enthusiastically collecting stones for fun, as ”Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones; Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroix— the villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”—eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys,” (Jackson 2). These actions by the children seem innocent at first, because it shows children just having fun and being outdoors. However it reveals at the end how the children are blinded from the dangers of the stones used for the black box, as they think, “It’s just a yearly tradition”, unknowing of the dark secret and intentions behind it. The youngest of the village also get involved, as stated in the text, ”The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” (Jackson 75). What appears as simple childhood play is the cruelty the villagers are accustomed to every year, even passed onto their offspring. Jackson uses this contrast to highlight the blindness of following tradition. Through the use of tone and contrast, Jackson can convey to readers how societies can continue violence as tradition because of conformity and normalization. By using calm dialogue, the dark symbolism of the decaying black box, and the children’s innocent play, Jackson exposes how ordinary people can commit horrific acts when violence because part of their routine. “The Lottery” reveals how evil can thrive in any situation, not only in chaos but in normalcy as well.
