The Foreshadow Knows Essay, Research Paper

The Foreshadow Knows

Foreshadowing is when the author reveals information early in the story that hints to, or has an impact on later events. If used properly, foreshadowing can be an essential element to a story. Through out the story The Lottery, Shirley Jackson uses foreshadowing to hint to the reader that something horrible is going to happen.

Some of the author s foreshadowing is very obvious. For example, she uses the name Graves for one of the main characters of the story. Instantly this character is identified with death.

Some of her foreshadowing is very subtle. For example, at the beginning of the story some of the boys have built a great pile of stones in one corner of the square (316). The stones erected in such a fashion, create an image of a cairn, which is a mound of stones erected as a memorial. The cairn further hints to the reader the horrible event that the author is leading to.

Another subtle example of the author s foreshadowing occurs toward the end of the story. The author describes the way the extra lottery tickets are dropped to the ground where the breeze caught them and lifted them off (321). These are the lottery tickets of the people not chosen. The breeze is lifting away their tickets just as the fear of being selected has been lifted from their shoulders.

The lottery box itself, a focal point of the story, is surrounded by elements of foreshadowing. The box is black and made of degenerating wood, which immediately relates it to death or a casket. One year the box was stored underfoot in the post office (317). The use of the word underfoot can easily be related to the word underground, which further establishes the relationship between the box and death or a casket.

There is another element of foreshadowing pertaining to the box, and that is the villager s aversion to the box. When the box is introduced into the story, the villagers keep their distance from it. In addition, except for the one time a year the box is used, it is stored away and left untouched. Also, no one has repaired the worn box. There is something foreboding about this box that causes this aversion from the villagers.

Foreshadowing also surrounds Mrs. Hutchinson. She happens to be the only one to arrive late to the gathering. Her late arrival separates her from her family as well as identifying her separate from the town people. This foreshadows how at the climax of the story, something horrible will happen that will permanently separate her from her family and the town.

The box, Mrs. Hutchinson s late arrival, and other seemingly simple facts and seemingly random occurrences are placed through out the story. These hints are elements of foreshadowing used by the author. The author has skillfully used these elements of foreshadowing to let the reader know that something horrible is going to occur prior to the conclusion of the story.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Literature, Reading, Reacting, Writing. Ed.

Laurie Kirszner, Stephen Mandell. 4th ed. Orlando: Harcourt, 2001.

315-322.