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The Use of Symbolism in The Lottery In "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson uses symbolism to make us aware of the pointless nature of humanity regarding tradition and violence. The story starts off on a beautiful summer day in a small town. The author describes the day as very euphoric, saying "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was …

…not only symbolic of the ease with which life can be taken, but is also symbolic of vast civilizations that were doomed to eventual failure for believing in and acting on tradition and not living according to the word of God. We see that even as Tessie is being stoned to death, she does not ponder the question of why this is happening, but rather the selfish question of why this is happening to me.