Symbols from the short story “The Lottery” 5/18/2012

   

Author’s Note: I am writing this response to show you the symbols in the story “The Lottery.”

          What would you do if you won the lottery but your prize is death? Would you still play? Well in “The Lottery” the people that live in the village don’t have a choice because they’re all scared of being killed by the government. There are a lot of symbols in this story.

          One symbol in the story is the lottery. They do the lottery because it is a tradition and the winner dies. This is a twisted inhuman tradition. The person who wins gets hit in the back of the head with a big rock by their best friend so it is fast and painless.

          Another symbol is the big rock. They use a big rock because when the winner gets hit with it they die fast and painless. Also the best friend has to hit them because they would want their friend to get hit once with a big rock and die instantly instead of have the villagers throw a bunch of small rocks and the friend dies slow and painfully.

          The last symbol is the black-spotted ticket. The black-spotted ticket is the one ticket that wins but you don’t really win anything you actually lose your life. The ticket symbolizes death and a curse.

          In conclusion in the story “The Lottery” there is three major symbols. The three symbols are the lottery, the big rock, and the black-spotted ticket. The lottery symbolizes tradition. The big rock symbolizes friendship and humanity. Lastly the black-spotted ticket symbolizes death and a curse.