Relating Symbolism to the Scapegoat in "The Lottery".

            

             Shirley Jackson"s use of symbolism in "The Lottery" clarifies the blatant foolishness and immorality of using a scapegoat. The deteriorating significance of the town"s traditional Lottery custom sparks insight into examining the profound reasons behind having a scapegoat at all. Visual and tactile forms of symbolism create a heightened awareness for an in depth examination into the meaning of the word, scapegoat; the direct affect symbolism places on the issue at hand, relates directly to the issues affect on the scapegoat. .

             At some point, the evolution of society enforces an analysis of what customs are right and what customs are wrong, what practices are outdated and what actions are immoral. The town members have many varying outlooks on the continuance of the Lottery practice. For Old Man Warner, the Lottery has many values. He feels that it"s a tradition, and shouldn"t cease, "There"s always been a lottery.Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery,"(77). Seventy-seven years, sure he"s all for continuing the custom, he has had to endure the anticipation of the Lottery for seventy-seven years; why should anyone else have to endure less? Mr. Adams, and Mrs. Adams both speak of the discontinuance of lotteries in other towns. The town atmosphere tells a lot about the peoples attitude towards the Lottery, "their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed,"(74), and in reference to the children, "the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them." Here, symbolism helps sketch the situation out onto a grander canvas to further examine.

             Symbolism helps clarify the town"s moral opinion of the Lottery. The black box, and the character"s ignorance all contained attributes of symbolism. Black, signifying death, is applied in many areas. Aside from the black box, black is profoundly expressed in this sentence, "It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr.