The Lottery and Symbolism
...a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 84). Jackson uses the imagery of a beautiful day to throw off her readers and guide them in the direction of a gleeful adventure. It is summertime and the kids are out of school, so with the townspeople gathering and sharing jokes, and their children playing about in the park on the grass, the reader essentially figures that this lottery will be something positive. But even in the beginning of the story, there is a lingering eerie feeling. Jackson constantly notes what Mr. Summers brings with him as “the black box,” rather than merely a box. She eventually goes into the entire history of the box, how old it is, and how it was meant to be replaced several times. This indicates that this annual lottery is a tradition and was probably not begun by the people presently organizing it this year, but rather succeeded by them. Thereafter, Shirley Jackson introduces Old Man Warner. Arguably the most significant character in The Lottery, Old Man Warner confirms the author’s inkling of tradition when he announces to the crowd, “Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery. Seventy-seventh time,” (Jackson 87), which means that he is ninety-something and obviously the eldest in the town, as he is referred to as Old Man Warner. Old Man Warner is very confident and conceited; when Mr. Adams tells him that other towns are contemplating the discontinuance of the lottery, Old Man Warner goes on a rant calling them, “Pack of crazy fools. Listening to young folks, nothing’s good for them,” (Jackson 87). He believes that things were done best before there was a new generation to change the way they were done. He is so against change, that even when Tessie is begging for her husband’s life, Old Man Warner becomes disturbed and declares, “It’s not the way it used to be. People ain’t the way they used to be,” (Jackson 88). To say the least, Old Man Warner is cold, cruel and heartless; as is the tradition that he has gotten old participating in. Ultimately, the townspeople reveal their slips of paper and Bill Hutchinson has drawn it. What is it? It is nothing more than a bold, black spot. Shirley Jackson revives the color black to make it obviously evident to the reader that something negative is taking place. And when the crowd has acknowledged that it is Bill Hutchinson who has drawn the spot, rather than cheering and celebrating, the townspeople are staring and whispering. “Go tell your father,” Mr. Dunbar says to her ol...