The Faded Black Box

Shirley Jackson seems to want us, the readers, to feel calm and relax when she starts the opening paragraph explaining that it was “a warm summer day with the flowers blossoming and the grass richly green” (Jackson, pg. 193). She deceives the readers by implying that “The Lottery” is an annual event, either a parade or picnic, where the winner receives a prize instead of revealing the gruesome end about the true nature of human beings (Sustana, pg.1).

When reading this story, my attention begins to shift when the black box is introduced, “When he [Mr. Summers] arrived in the square, carrying a black box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers…” (Jackson, pg. 194); The villagers kept their distance leaving a space between themselves and the stool with the black box resting on top (pg.194). This made me wonder, Why was this black box feared by the villagers? The answer to this question seems to lie throughout the entire story by Jackson using symbolism and foreshadowing leading up to the tragic end.

The villagers’ fear of the black box seems to begin when Mr. Summers arrives at the square. There seemed to be an uneasiness roaming the air as the villagers stare at this particular black box and “keep their distance” from it (pg. 194). This particular black box immediately symbolizes death and evilness in the world which brings unwanted feelings amongst the villagers. Jackson used great detail about the box symbolizing evil and death in the world: The black box grew shabbier each year, became splintered badly revealing the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained (pg. 194).

Another interesting detail that Jackson uses in the story is the three-legged stool which is holding the black box of death. Jackson appears to be symbolizing the three-legged stool as the Christian Trinity with each leg representing God the father, God the son, and the Holy Spirit. This to me is ironic because the Christian Trinity signifies purity and holiness, but the black box represents sin and evilness making this significant because they manipulate the religion to support the violence that will be done. This makes one to think that it is morally right to stone someone to death because of religious reasons, and that God would have wanted the townspeople to sacrifice innocent people (Ma, pg. 1).

Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box (Jackson, pg. 194). The fact that the villagers have made no attempt to repair or replace the old black box suggests the villagers are in fear of change. They would disagree with Mr. Summers out of fear, time and time again, trying to avoid the subject at all cost. It is as if the box has this curse on them that by replacing it, evil things may occur upon their small village or even death of their loved ones. It is intriguing to see how a small object, such as a black box, can harness so much power over this entire village and to see them worship this evil object which brings fear and despair into their lives.

The box would be taken to the safe of Mr. Summers’s coal company and locked away until he was ready to take it to the square the next morning (pg.194). It seemed as if Jackson was emphasizing that the official, Mr. Summers, would lock away the box in order to prevent people from tampering with paper slips or perhaps she wants to reveal the sacredness of an object deciding an individual’s life. However, Jackson continues the story by explaining that the box is placed in specific areas around the village. Some of the places that the black box was taken seemed to me as if they neglected it for the rest of the year, “…the box was put away, it spent one year in Mr. Graves’s barn and another year underfoot in the post office…”(pg. 195).

Nevertheless, the place that drew my attention was when it was placed in the Martin’s grocery store, “it was set on a shelf in the Martin grocery and left there” (pg. 195). This may represent the official, Mr. Summers, putting it there to instill fear in the lives of the villagers by reminding them of this violent and gruesome day. Whatever the case may be, it is interesting how this black faded box of death, consumes these villagers’ lives once a year.

As the story continues, I begin to see the real horrific impact that the black box has amongst the villagers. In support of the black box being evil, Jackson introduces certain characters that become corrupt from this evil object. The protagonist, Tess Hutchinson, stands out immediately from the other villagers when she arrives late to the square. She begins talking to Mrs. Delacroix, “Clean forgot what day it is…then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and a came a-running” (pg. 195). Mrs. Hutchinson seemed to have this calm, confident, and cocky attitude towards the lottery almost a free spirit as she jokes with Mr. Summers: “Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie”, “Wouldn’t have me leave m’dishes in the sink, now would you, Joe?”(pg.196). While the other wives stood placidly watching their husbands grab a slip out of the black box, Mrs. Hutchinson was enthusiastic by telling her husband, “Get up there, Bill” (pg. 197).

However, her whole attitude changed when her husband, Bill, got the winning slip and she began to protest about the drawing: “You didn’t give him [her husband] time enough to any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” (pg. 198) “I think we ought to start over” (pg.199). Her protest of starting the drawing process over was unheard as Mr. Summers continued on with the lottery tradition. When the Hutchinson family is about to draw again, Mrs. Hutchinson, in her desperate act of not getting picked tries to get her married daughter and husband to draw with them: “There’s Don and Eva, make them take their chance!” (pg. 198)  

In my opinion, going back to my original question about why the villagers feared this black box is because this evil object ultimately sealed each villager’s life. By picking a piece of paper out of this black box determines whether you live or die a slow painful death. This object also seems to reveal no human remorse amongst individuals taking an innocent life, almost as if this box possesses them to be evil for the time being until they return to their civil lives.

I think this is why Jackson, throughout the book, made the villagers seem to be always in a hurry: “…we’ve got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time” [Mr. Summers] (pg. 198); “I wish they’d hurry” [Mrs. Dunbar] (pg. 198); “All right folks, let’s finish quickly” [Mr. Summers] (pg. 200); and “Come on, come on, everyone” [Old Man Warner] (pg. 200). These phrases all became significant when Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves, “Seems like there’s no time at all between lotteries any more…Seems like we got through the last one only last week” (pg. 197), because it seems as if they want to hurry and be done so they can forget about their evilness.

However, with this passage between Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Graves, it appears that the black box has this hold on them that no matter how hard they try to forget they cannot. Similar to our society today, no matter how much effort one tries to forget about the evilness in the world they are still reminded, either through the news or witness it, just how these villagers were reminded by seeing the black box of death.

 Did you see how the black box changed Mrs. Hutchinson’s human nature from being a genuinely nice person to a desperate human being trying not to die by even sacrificing her own daughter? How do you interpret this?   

If the villagers want to forget about “The Lottery” why don’t they just leave for another village where they stopped participating in the lottery? Do you think Mrs. Hutchinson got through to somebody at the end when she kept yelling, ‘It isn’t fair it isn’t right’?      

Work Cited

Gwynn, R. S. "Fiction." Literature: A Pocket Anthology. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2002. 192-200. Print.

Ma, Martine. "Literary Analysis Essay: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson."Martines Blog. World Press, 10 June 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.

Sustana, Catherine. "Analysis of 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson." About Entertainment. About.com, 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.