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Hyperbole
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—Anxious Children:
When describing the Hutchinson family selecting their slips of paper (to decide which of them will be stoned to death by the rest of the village), Jackson uses imagery, as seen in the following passage:
"Nancy next," Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and her school friends breathed heavily as she went forward switching her skirt, and took a slip daintily from the box "Bill, Jr.," Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and his feet overlarge, near knocked the box over as he got a paper out.
Because Jackson does not use much imagery in “The Lottery,” it is notable when she does. Here she subtly uses imagery to help readers understand how anxious the Hutchinson children are when selecting the slips of paper that will tell them if they’ve been selected to be killed or not. Jackson notes how Nancy’s friends “breathe heavily” when Nancy goes forward to select her slip of paper (allowing readers to hear the scene), as well as how Nancy “switches her skirt” and takes the paper “daintily” (helping readers to picture the scene). Readers can likewise picture Billy with “his face red and feet overlarge” almost knocking over the box that holds the papers.
All of these descriptions combine to help readers understand how anxious the children are about possibly picking the marked piece of paper that means they have to immediately be stoned to death. This is one of the ways that Jackson highlights the cruelty of the lottery tradition—not even school-aged children are spared from possibly being killed. Here, as throughout the story, Jackson urges readers to consider the amount of cruelty that humans are willing to inflict on each other, especially if it means fitting into their society.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Black Box:
When describing the box at the center of the lottery tradition (the one that holds the slips of paper each family picks to determine who will be stoned to death), Jackson uses imagery, as seen in the following passage:
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. The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.
Jackson uses subtle imagery in this passage to help readers visualize this box, describing how it became “shabbier” each year, how it was “splintered badly along one side” such that it showed its “original wood color,” and how its black color had become “faded or stained.”
Because Jackson does not use much imagery in the story, the fact that she pauses to capture the box’s decrepit appearance is significant. This is her way of signaling to readers that the box, like the tradition itself, is a relic of another time and should not be a part of modern life. The fact that Mr. Summers (who is the overseer of the lottery) talks each year about getting a new box but the community lets the conversation “fade off without anything’s being done” suggests that the reason this tradition has carried on for so long isn’t because it plays a significant role in the community but because of simple inertia.
Related Themes:
