You Win, and You're Dead

Author's Note: This is a short response on the story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and its symbolism.

In the short story, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson has many items that symbolize what is happening and what is going to happen at the end of the story. For example the box in which the heads of the families pick out of is black which is the common symbol for death or evil. This story definitely has an ending with death when Mrs. Tessie is unluckily chosen to be stoned  to death by her family and friends.

There are also some other symbolic items that lead to this ironic ending.

When Tessie was finally chosen for her doom, her friend Mrs.Doucroix picked up the biggest rock she could find which symbolized friendship and humanity because she wanted her friend to die quickly with the least pain possible. Some other items in "The Lottery" that symbolizes death are the black-spotted ticket and the rocks. Finally, the last symbolic item is the lottery itself which represents tradition. Overall the symbolic items in "The Lottery" represented death and evilness.