Allegory

An allegory is a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols that have both literal and figurative meanings. Symbolism is the use of a person, a thing, or a spectacle to represent something less palpable. The difference between an allegory and a symbol is that an allegory is a complete narrative that conveys abstract ideas to get a point across, while a symbol is a representation of an idea or concept that can have a different meaning throughout a literary work.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is an example of an allegory. The Lottery conveys many abstract ideas that attempt to convey Jackson’s message about tradition, human instinct, and change. At first glance, the title of the story seems like a positive aspect, like winning the current lottery, where you win money. However, as the story develops, the lottery is not what it seems. The lottery is a more along the lines of a bankruptcy rather than an actually lottery. “The Lottery” is an allegory that represents death and tradition in many ways. The little black box that contains the names to be drawn is in bad shape and should be replaced as mentioned by the narrator. The suggestion to replace it comes across the minds of the people but because it has been around for so long, they refuse to replace it, as it is a tradition in which they refuse to change. This shows just one aspect of the people and their unwillingness to change an old tradition. The conformity and unwillingness to change their tradition shows itself again when the readers find out what it means to win the lottery. The winner of the lottery is stoned to death and they do this because that is the tradition that has been done by their ancestors for ages. The allegory in this story is the belief of tradition, the unwillingness for change, and they conformity that everyone reverts to.