The Symbolism of Evil - The Lottery and Young Goodman Brown - Research Paper Example

The Symbolism of Evil In the struggle between good and evil, the good usually wins. However, in the stories en d “The Lottery” and “Young Goodman Brown,” it is evil that triumphs. Such triumph is only made possible by the secret to true happiness. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” the symbols all represent the evil nature of man. In Jackson’s “The Lottery,” which was written around a hundred years apart from Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” the first symbol is the black box. The black box, where all the lots are drawn, becomes the symbol of the dark and evil tradition that the townspeople share. Moreover, since this otherwise gruesome celebration is held every year, then it must be something which the people have already considered a part of their lives. As Mr. Martin and his son Baxter “held the black box securely on the stool,” one can see how much they value this evil tradition as they securely guard it. Furthermore, the fact that both father and son, and parents and their children draw lots from the black box speaks of how much they want to pass this evil tradition on to future generations (Jackson). Every evil man’s legacy is therefore the evil that he willingly and proudly passes on to his children and descendants. The second symbol of evil is “the smoothest and roundest stones” that the people and children have chosen (Jackson). The stones which the children have begun choosing at the beginning of the day of the celebration represent the unjust hurt and punishment that innocent people experience and suffer from because of the senseless and brutal tradition that people pass on to their children. In fact, the idea that everyone in the village in Jackson’s story participates in stoning someone to death is a proof that evil exists in all people without any exception. This illustrates the brutality of the society in which human beings live. Moreover, the old people are the ones to blame for the perpetuation of all evil. Old Man Warner, as the oldest in town, is believed to have cast the first stone because he believes that the villagers trust him for his age and wisdom. Old Man Warner represents all aging and aged people on earth who are consumed by evil and who believe that the youth must be just as evil as they are. They are actually the same people who do not think that this world will ever rise from the quagmire of evil that is slowly swallowing it. Another symbol is Mr. Adams, who figuratively stands as the representative of all men corrupted by evil. In the story, Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner that “over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery” (Jackson). Mr. Adams himself may actually be personally against the traditional practice of stoning someone to death. Nevertheless, unfortunately , instead of listening to his instincts of goodness, Mr. Adams passively accepts his role as one of those who cast stones at poor Mrs. Hutchinson. Since, in the Bible, the one who casts the first stone is labeled by Mary Magdalene as sinless, the fact that all these people cast stones actually implies that they consider themselves infallible. Mr. Adams may therefore represent all the hypocritical people who proclaim goodness but in fact practice pure evil. Aside from Mr. Adams, another symbol of evil is Mrs. Graves, who is one of the first to cast a stone on Tessie Hutchinson and who represents all women who nurture their children with evil. Moreover, Mrs. Graves, as the wife of the postmaster Mr. Graves, is considered the epitome of goodness with all the “honorable virtues of a wife” – weakness, submission and obedience to their husbands regardless of how evil the latter are, and without regard for the evil that they are doing. Her personal or maiden name is not even mentioned because it is not important as she obediently carries her own husband’s name as well as his evil nature. She therefore represents the submission of all women to the power of evil. In fact, the author paints a picture of perfect evil in the character of Mrs. Graves as the perfect accomplice to the crime where her husband is a prime criminal, yet she may have seen all of this from the perspective of an obedient wife. The evil in Mr. Adams and Mrs. Graves actually somehow implies that all men and women, husbands and wives, and fathers and mothers are all responsible in perpetuating this evil throughout their posterity. One could therefore only imagine what would become of their children. The next symbol of evil is Steve Adams, the representative of the evil in the youth. In fact, the stone Old Man Warner casts may then have been followed by those of Steve Adams and Mrs. Graves – the two villagers who the author states as located “in the front of the crowd” (Jackson). Steve Adams represents all the youth whose minds have succumbed to the legacy of evil passed on to them by their parents and ancestors. Steven embodies the youth who poison their bodies with alcohol and drugs, and their souls with pornography, sex and violence. Moreover, Steven represents the weakness of human beings in the face of temptation. Therefore, through the example of Steven, although man proclaims how formidable he is in the face of temptations, most of the time man falters because, as exemplified by Jackson’s story, it is in man’s nature to be weak and to be subservient to evil. In fact, because of the role of senseless tradition in corrupting the youth, Gibson concludes that “[Jackson’s] story world has no moral rules, for the lottery has rendered them meaningless” (195). Moreover, this absence of moral rules does not depend on the lottery or any other brutal tradition, but mainly on the evil of the people who unconsciously seek to perpetuate it. The Watson boy also represents the corruption of the youth and their blind subservience to their parents. When Mr. Summers asked, “Watson boy drawing this year?” (Jackson), a tall boy in the crowd immediately raised his hand and said he’s drawing for his mother and him. In fact, this is the reason that he would be receiving a resounding approval from the crowd as “several voices…said things like ‘Good fellow, Jack’ as well as “Glad to see your mother’s got a man to do it,’” (Jackson). The fact that adults approve of him makes him and all children follow their rather senseless traditions. He was even praised for being a part of a brutal community with traditions of death. This particular instance clearly reflects a society which rewards with approval children who always obey authority regardless of how corrupt this authority is. Nevertheless,the reward systems are subtle and unconscious. For example, in reality, some parents praise their own children for wanting to become terrorists in exchange for praises, honor and service, and most of all, for the reward of everlasting life. The smallest child – the character named Little Davy, as he is fondly called in the story – is the ultimate symbol of the ultimate corruption in the human race. In fact, he is the perfect example of an innocent and loving child who would have liked to grow up in a peaceful and honest community. Davy is around 5 or 6 years old or even much younger for Mr. Summers even has to ask Harry Jones to “help little Dave”, and in another instance, “Davy because he was young, he put his hand into the box and [even] laughed” (Jackson). Mr. Summer’s next words for Dave were “Take just one paper” and “Harry you hold it for him (Jackson). In fact, these are all proofs that Dave in fact has no idea whatsoever about what exactly is going and neither has he had even any inkling about the horrific and murderous celebration that is about to unfold. This is perhaps the most corrupt and the most insidious of the ways that society can implant brutal traditions and violent tendencies into an innocent child’s mind – little Dave in particular, and the whole of our posterity in general. Innocence is therefore taken advantage of and poisoned by what has always been known as tradition of evil. Nevertheless, despite pointing fingers at senseless tradition, it is but proper to realize that this is the wrong doing of a society that is bent on evil. In fact, Jackson’s “The Lottery” “provokes the reader to question the extent to which a society can incorporate absurdity into accepted ritual, despite a high price in terms of humanity” (Hinchey & Kimmel xi). Society is therefore the one to blame for its own corruption. Furthermore, worse than anything else, Little Dave is encouraged by such an evil community to stone his own mother, which somehow translates as domestic and familial violence. While Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a picture of a society that murders people by virtue of an evil tradition, “Young Goodman Brown” affirms that such an evil even encompasses established religion. This evil is represented by Old Goodman Brown’s staff, “which bore the likeness of a great black snake,” which somehow alludes to the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis (Hawthorne). As Young Goodman Brown grabs the staff and rides on it, it somehow magically takes him to a very evil ceremony – the witches’ Sabbath. Since the staff is owned by Old Goodman Brown, it therefore seems that it is once more the older generation that introduces evil to the youth. This is therefore very much similar to the situation in Jackson’s “The Lottery.” Young Goodman Brown himself is actually a symbol not only of every man or every youth, but the vulnerability of the youth to evil influence (Danish 7). Young Goodman Brown is described by Hawthorne as someone who is weak in his resolve and faith as he even says, “Faith kept me back a while” (Hawthorne). This means that faith tried to hold him back but he persisted in his curiosity of what is evil, just like Adam and Eve who consumed the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which they were both curious about. In the end, Young Goodman Brown, may have believed that God even tolerates such evil people and hides them all under the cloak of religion. Thus, even when his family kneels down at prayer, Young Goodman Brown’s reaction reflective of disgust at the hypocrisy that he can see was totally great (Daniels 121). In fact, “he scowled and muttered to himself, and gazed sternly at his wife, and turned away” (Hawthorne). Another symbol in the story is the forest where Young Goodman Brown witnesses the Sabbath. The forest seems to represent the unconscious of Young Goodman Brown and of the typical youth of his day and even of this day – morally corrupt in their ways and weak against temptation. Thus, the deeper they move into the forest or into their unconscious, the more they become in touch with the evil in them, which is the same evil nature in every man. Perhaps, the goal of man in general and of Young Goodman Brown in particular was to find the balance between the good and the evil, but Young Goodman Brown failed in this endeavor (Donada 43). Moreover, another symbol in “Young Goodman Brown” is the fluttering pink ribbon which belongs to Goodman Brown’s wife Faith. This ribbon which belongs to Faith is actually the figurative representation of Young Goodman Brown’s faith in God and His goodness. When Young Goodman Brown exclaims as soon as he sees the pink ribbon, “My Faith is gone!” this is actually an indication that he has finally given up not only his trust in man but also he gave up his faith that man is good and his belief that religion can help one in his salvation (Hawthorne). The symbols of Shirley Jackson’s horrific tale include the black box, the stones, Mr. Adams, Mrs. Graves, Little Davy, and the the corruptible youth in Watson and Steve Adams. Most of these symbols glorify the triumph of evil in man as it is perpetuated by the older generations through senselessly brutal evils. On the other hand, the symbols in Hawthorne’s story “Young Goodman Brown” include the forest, the ribbon, the staff, and Young Goodman Brown himself. Just like in the preceding story, Young Goodman Brown believed that even religion is instrumental in exposing the evil man. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited Daniels, Patsy J. “Hawthorne and His Audience: History, Dream, and Moral Values.” LATCH 2 (2009): 115-128. Print. Danish, Naela. “Hawthorne’s Short Fiction: Compassion or Castigation for those Fated to Fear and Horror.” Where Fear Lurks. Ed. Michele Huppert. United Kingdom: Inter-Disciplinary Press, 2009. Print. Donada, Jaqueline Bohn. “Young Goodman Brown: A Failure in Striking the Balance between Innocence and Experience.” Fragmentos 26 (2004): 43-51. Print. Gibson, James M. “An Old Testament Analogue for ‘The Lottery.’” Journal of Modern Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Young Goodman Brown.” Online Literature. 2013. Web. 2 Feb 2014. Hinchey, Patricia H. & Kimmel, Isabel. The Graduate Grind: A Critical Look at graduate Education. New York:  Falmer Press, 2000.  Print. Jackson, Susan. “The Lottery.” 2014. Middlebury. 12 Feb. 2014. http://sites.middlebury.edu/individualandthesociety/files/2010/09/jackson_lottery.pdf. Read More