Play: definition, forms, and cultural significance

¶ … Lottery" by Shirley Jackson has come to be considered one of the most representative short stories of the American literature, despite the fact that when initially published in the late 1940s in the "New Yorker" failed to receive positive reviews from both the writers' community as well as the readers of the magazine. However, today, its motifs, symbols and the plot are highly appreciated and are a reference point for the American literature of all times.

The success and impact of the short story relies heavily on the symbols and themes the short story uses in order to transmit the message to the audience. The initial reactions were negative as "modern man considers such practices barbaric and, therefore, alien to his civilized behavior. For this reason, many persons were puzzled and shocked by 'The Lottery'" (Bloom, 2001) The plot in itself is not extremely complex, but the way in which the symbols are used by the author give the writing considerable depth and insight into a mentality and a world that reveals intriguing facts about society and the way in which it reacts in a collective manner.

There are several motifs to be taken into account in the short story. One of the main in this category is that of the family. The entire short story focuses on the way in which the lottery affects the families of those involved. More precisely, each year the families of the community through the head of the household must draw a small piece of paper out of a black box and, if misfortune hits that family, one of their family members is stoned to death. From among the members of that family, one of them draws the piece of paper marked with a black dot and that person will be the subject of the human sacrifice. The motif of the family is in this case important because the "circle" in which this ceremony takes place has as main element the family and the head of the household especially given the fact that in the first instance of the lottery it is the head of the household that inevitably decides whose family is chosen to provide the human sacrifice (Jackson, 2013).

Another motif of the short story is represented by the rules that are invoked by the people present at the ceremony. In this sense, for instance, at one point during the ceremony of choosing the family, a discussion on the way in which daughters should be accounted for, if in their family with their mother or father, or in that of their husbands, is depicted. This comes to point out two rather significant aspects of the short story. On the one hand, the role of the rules is crucially important for the ceremony, especially seeing the outcome of the lottery that is the loss of the life of one human being. On the other hand, the discussion on the rules is much more important for the community than a discussion on the fairness of the ritual or the belief that a human life can be lost merely as a result of hazard and good fortune which in turns raises the question on the nature of the community and of the relations on which the community is formed (Kirszner et al., 1994)

There are certain themes that ensure the transmission of the message to the audience in a manner that provides both coherence to the overall message as well as the necessary impact on the audience. The most important one, as announced in the title of the short story, is the theme of the lottery. In effect, it is the lottery that decides the fate of the people of that community. In this particular case, the death of Tessie is not merely a matter or loss of life but also a matter of the impact this loss has on the rest of the family, including her husband and her children. This lottery resembles to a certain extent the Russian Roulette where the loss of life, if not for good fortune, is imminent. At the same time though, it is Tessie the only one that screams at the end the unfairness of this lottery and of the tradition.