Short Fictional Story The Lottery by Shirley Jacson - Analysis Paper

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Literature
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The Lottery
Shirley Jackson is arguably one of the most famous of the present century. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short fictional story that encompasses one of the most astounding cultural practices in American society. It is about a lottery held annually in a small town in New England. The story is actually very scary and shocking at the same time as it highlights how every year; one of the villagers is selected at random and marked for death by stoning. Based on the sentiments by Graves, the practice has been done for more than seven decades and it shows no sign of abating just yet. Through a blend of figurative language and impressive literary techniques, the Shirley Jackson manages to bring out the extent of human corruption.
The first thing that stands out is the names of the different characters in the story. The author applies symbolism as an illustration of just how their respective characters would soon turn out t match them. This is in a way, application of foreshadow. Summers is the main orchestrator of the lottery. It is interesting to find out that the ceremony takes place during the summer. His assistant on the other hand, is called Graves, a shuddering foreshadow of what would be the final result of the lottery. Delacroix means the Cross in French. It is interesting how the author uses the interplay between these names to bring out the essence of just how the story will reach its finale with death by stoning. The other irony is that Hutchison, who vehemently argued against the selection of her husband, is the one who gets selected for death.
There is also a lot of symbolism when it comes to the manner in which the events take place. In the story, the author speaks of how the other young boys had followed up in the way Bobby Martin had collected the stones and stuffed them in his pocket, by also collecting softer ones and doing the same. While reading through this part of the excerpt, there is a real realization that these young boys have been inducted into the practice, where they take death to be a totally normal event and killing even more normal.