For the short story author, symbolism is a tool to simplify life's complexities. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, symbolism permeates the plot. Jackson introduces the reader to a seemingly pristine village soon to practice the annual execution of an ancient tradition. This highly anticipated ritual turns out to be drawing of paper slips from an old black box. One of the slips contains a black dot, and the villager who draws this paper is doomed to death by stoning. The shocking nature of the tradition alone is exacerbated by its unquestioned precedence in the minds of the villagers. The Lottery is thus composed of two types of symbols: those apparent to the characters (the black box containing the slips of paper,) and those apparent only to the audience (the lottery process). The villagers' simplistic view of life, symbolized by the lottery, blinds them to its futile nature...