What Does The Box Symbolize In The Lottery

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Human society as a whole has developed greatly over the years, removing old bad habits and replacing them with new and improved ones, while maintaining the ones that have been continually seen as good. In the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the black box is a symbol that holds many important concepts throughout the story. One way in which the box is important is how it is seen as tradition to the townspeople. Another way that the box is seen as important is how it symbolizes the inability to let go of the past. Thirdly, although the lottery seems like a happy concept at the start, but it is soon revealed that it is not what it seems. Due to this, the black box can be seen as the imagery of death and the normalization of the ideas …show more content…
One of the ways in which they celebrate this idea is the continuous reuse of the old box pieces in order to make a newer box. The pieces were almost sentimental to the townspeople, who were almost afraid to change this tradition, “No one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” (Jackson). The reuse of the pieces of the old boxes is a story in itself. It is the way in which they honour the people of the past. Since the box is completely useless for the rest of the year, except that one day in June, no one wants to take on the task of making a new one. The condition of the box is also another way in which imagery is used. The box is in poor condition and needs to be remade. When you look at their way of life, you see the same thing. The people are so caught up in the old things that they are unable to see new and better ways of living. Although they continued to honour the tradition, it did not seem like they understood why they had to keep doing it. Many of the younger people in this town question why this tradition continues, and those who have mentioned not continuing it were “put down”. Overall, to this community, tradition is very important and no one wants to destroy something that is
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