USE OF SYMBOLS TO CONVEY THEME OF STORY
Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories
Summer Martin
Liberty University Online
Use of Symbols by Authors to Help Readers Understand the Theme of Short Stories
Thesis: The two short stories, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence both use symbols to help the reader understand the theme of the story; however the themes of both stories were completely different, one about love the other the lack of love.
In "The Lottery" and "The Rocking Horse Winner" both authors use symbols to help convey the central message of the story to their readers.
In "The Lottery", Jackson uses the black box to symbolize the villagers' connection to the tradition of the lottery.
"The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago" The villagers were willing to let some parts of the lottery change but never question why or even think about changing the lottery itself
"The black box grew shabbier each year".
Falling apart but villagers show no interest in replacing it
The Black box had no significance the rest of the year and could be found in several different locations throughout the town
In "The Rocking Horse Winner", Lawrence uses the whispering house and the rocking horse to show how greed gets you nowhere.
"There must be more money" The house spoke of it often, usually when the children received things that they knew that the family could not afford. They had servants but no car of their own, because they were poor.
Paul thought he could stop the house from whispering if he could win enough money. After giving his mom all of his earnings the house...