In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” what do the following items symbolize: the black box, the names, and the black spot?

In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," the black
box, the names in the box, and the black spot are symbolic elements in the
story.

The color black is associated with death. Pall
bearers often wear black arm bands. People who attend funerals wear black (or navy
blue). For many years, families in England wore black for a prescribed amount of time
while in mourning, especially depending upon one's association to the deceased. (I.e.,
the prescribed time of mourning was different for a brother than for a
spouse.)

The black box may well symbolize judgment and/or
death. In the story, every name of every person in the community goes into that box. No
one is exempt, not even Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves. Death will come to someone whose
name is chosen from that box.

The names are symbolic of
those who will be judged. In the big picture, the name of the person to die comes from
this group of names, so we can surmise that the list represents mankind, for all will
die, and many people believe all will be judged at that
time.

The black spot is a sign of death. There are two
things that come to mind. First of all, during the plague in Europe (called "The Black
Death"), people who were infected developed a large circle on their bodies, often in
several places. These "buboes" became black spots as the symptoms of the disease spread
and, ultimately—for the most part—ended in death. On the other hand, in pirate lore,
specifically after Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island,
the black spot on a piece of paper spelled a summons or doom for whomever received it.
In Treasure Island, two men receive the black spot on a piece of
paper. "The Lottery" is much older, but in one of The Pirates of the
Caribbean movies, Jack Sparrow discovers a black spot on the skin of his
hand, spelling his doom—this probably also comes from pirate
lore—though probably from Stevenson's time.

In the story,
"The Lottery," the black box symbolizes the judgment of the members of the town. The
list of names represent those who will be judged—one of whom will die. The black spot is
symbolic of the person from the town who is chosen to die. All three items relate to the
story's themes of custom and tradition, violence and
cruelty, and victim and victimization. As symbols, they
foreshadow the seriousness of this day, which at first is presented as just another
pleasant day when the members of the community get together, laugh and visit—with no
inkling for the reader of the terrible activity they will soon all be involved
in.

In an historical context, the story was written in the
1940s with a backdrop of World War II and man's inhumanity to man. Jackson's husband,
literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman once commented on his wife's
writing.

'Her
fierce visions of dissociations and madness, of alienation and withdrawal, of cruelty
and terror, have been taken to be personal, even neurotic fantasies. Quite the reverse:
They are a sensitive and faithful anatomy of our times, fitting symbols for our
distressing world of the concentration camp and the
bomb.'

While it might seem
that the story was appropriate when written, the sad truth is that not that much has
changed. We still have wars; humans are still uncaring of the plight of others; and,
societies across the globe still demonstrate man's inhumanity to man. "The Lottery" is a
timeless, haunting piece of
literature.

Additional
Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death