A review of the short story, “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson.
This paper examines the story, “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, and in particular, looks at how it serves as a reminder of the fact that evil exists in the form of heinous traditions, customs, and human nature in seemingly normal society and, apparently, a pleasant environment. It discusses how the story depicts normality and reality, which sets it apart from other tragic stories that depict evil in society.
“Another important symbol to support the theme, Jackson uses, is the black box.The very color of the box, black, is a sign of evil and death. The arrival of box hints about the theme, as soon as the box is brought the people start moving away “leaving a space between themselves and the stool and when Mr. Summers said, “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand” there was a hesitation” because it was the main determinant of the winner , the one who going to die next. The fact that people never wanted to change the box because some believed it contained some wood of the last box shows how people (stop uses their mind) and become superstitious even it comes to traditions.”