Symbolic Analysis of "The Lottery" In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, the author uses a morbid lottery system to symbolize the problems of traditions in the contemporary society. Through the use of symbolism embedded in the story in the form of a tattered black box and the horrible lottery itself, the author highlights the common problem of people mindlessly following distorted rituals and poorly designed ones rooted in tradition, and warns them against doing so. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThe black box in the short story can symbolize the centuries-old traditions and customs of people of all cultures. Like all cultural traditions, the box is very old and nostalgic. Jackson even goes so far as to describe him as being “more and more shabby every year” (Jackson 1). This parallels the lottery tradition as a whole, as well as most modern cultural traditions and activities. The box was probably originally very clean, with sharp edges and shiny paint. But like the box, traditions begin to fade and become distorted with each passing year. Take Christmas for example. Christmas is very deeply rooted in Christian beliefs and is originally a day of celebration of Christ's birthday. These days, the new black box that was Christmas is a worn, dull remnant of a box. Many now view Christmas as a time of year to eat big, receive free gifts and storm the nearest stores to find the best deals. This is exactly what the author is trying to show the reader; that most of today's traditions are only sketches of the original version, and that one must be careful about blindly following them because they are "customary." Likewise, locals are reassured that the box was created with parts from the original black box, making them look down on the process as it sticks to tradition. This easily resembles the jack-o-lanterns of contemporary society. Originally, they were used to ward off evil spirits and provide light on dark nights. Today, jack-o-lanterns serve no functional purpose except to sell more Hallmark cards. People justify spending money every year on these earthy gourds because they feel it "stems from their heritage" and must be preserved at all costs. This is exactly what the author is trying to warn us against; blindly trampling on tradition in the hope of maintaining it. The lottery itself also seems to be a symbol of an everyday procedure that civilians come to accept. We see Mr. Warner, the big boss; ridicule a northern village, calling them a “pack of fools” for wanting to abolish the old tradition of the lottery. (4) These people are criticized for having a very progressive point of view, rebelling against unjust and irrelevant tradition. Today, this is reminiscent of the question of homosexual marriage. Many people feel rooted in traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and nothing else. When people challenge this conventional view, they are often mocked and belittled. We even see it in the news. When it is revealed that Mrs. Hutchinson has the point on her lottery, she immediately protests that "it's not fair" (8). The locals quickly reject this plea and stone her to death. Morally, these people should understand that it is wrong to randomly kill someone every year, but they don't, 2(1), 1-7.