Symbolism: Comparing The Lottery and Young Goodman Brown

All the items in quotations with a number behind them are references to my college literature book. I can't seem to find it write now to use it as a detailed reference. Once I find the book I will put the information about it on here.

This is yet again another paper I wrote for school. This paper saved me from having to my final in Literature 2200 my first year of college. Woot woot!

The art of symbolism when used in literature is defined as “a thing that suggests more than it’s literal meaning. Symbols generally do not ‘stand for’ any one meaning, nor for anything absolutely definite…” (229). Authors use symbolism in order to create a different atmosphere or feeling about their story. If the story is taken in a literal sense, it can become confusing, but if it is read the way it is meant to be read many points and visions can be seen. The story takes a different form as it starts to come alive.

The stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne both use the element of symbolism. Both of these stories require a reader to think and use reason in order to find the point that the author is trying to make. Both authors use names in order to enhance the point of their story, however, Hawthorne uses multiple names as symbols while Jackson uses few names. Another form of symbolism that both authors use in these stories is the use of objects and actions as symbols. Actions can be both defined as physical, mental, and verbal. Hawthorne uses both good and evil examples, while “The Lottery” mainly focuses on an evil symbol.

In both stories names are used as symbols to reflect the values, or roles that a character may portray within the story. Hawthorne uses Young Goodman Brown and Faith to portray these characters as good people. The name Faith also symbolizes that she was a good and faithful woman as stated within the story, “And Faith, as the wife was aptly named,” (549).

In “The Lottery” the name Mr. Graves is one of the most obvious symbols. The word “grave” triggers thoughts of death in the mind of the reader. Mr. Graves is the director of the lottery (which leads to the death of a character). The name Mr. Summers can also be thought of as a symbol. The word “summer” normally leads the reader to think cheerful thoughts. Mr. Summers himself was a happy man, “Mr. Summers…was a roundfaced, jovial man,” (240).

Another form of symbolism that both authors use is the presence of actions and objects as symbols of evil. In “Young Goodman Brown” the most obvious symbolic object is the staff (or cane) mentioned multiple times within the story. This object becomes much more obviously symbolic when the old traveler throws it to the ground at the feet of Goody Cloyse, “where, perhaps, it assumed life, being one of the rods which its owner had formerly lent to the Egyptian Magi” (552). In the Bible, when Moses is confronted by the priests of Pharaoh, they also throw their staffs to the ground which in turn become serpents.

Jackson uses the black box throughout her story as a symbol of tradition. The power of tradition is mentioned twice within the story. First, when it talks about Mr. Summers wanting to make a new box, “Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything’s being done” (240). The other mention of tradition is when Old Man Warner is talking with Mrs. Adams. “Old Man Warner snorted. ‘Pack of crazy fools,’ he said, ‘…There’s always been a lottery” (242).

There are also actions present in both stories that could be considered symbolic. When the devil is giving his sermon, he says, “Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness” (556). These words are obviously symbolic of the appeal of evil to mankind. Earlier in the story Young Goodman Brown says, “My Faith is gone! There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil! for to thee is this world given” (554). Although this statement literally implies that he feels he has lost his wife after seeing the pink ribbon, it could also imply the loss of his faith in his religion. In many religions, when a person loses their faith, they submit themselves to the power of the devil.

While Hawthorne uses statements as symbolic actions, Jackson uses physical actions as symbols. One example of this is when a friend of Tessie’s, Mrs. Delacroix, “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (244) to throw. This shows the true evil abilities of people in general. Even children, being taught by their parents, participated in this ritual. At the beginning of the story it talks of how the kids would gather pebbles and place them in their pockets. Towards the end it states, “The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” (244). This statement shows how strong the influence of other individuals can be on a person. Davy Hutchinson was the son the Tessie, but still, due to the encouragement of another, he participated in his own mother’s death.

Hawthorne and Jackson both use symbolism throughout their stories. However, the use and meaning of these symbols are translated differently. The symbols help readers to understand the point that the authors are trying to make. It is hard to say what the authors meant by putting certain symbols where they did, or if the objects were actually meant to be a symbol at all, but the use of symbols helps the authors reach each reader on a different and sometimes more personal level.