A symbol in history is like a souvenir of a travel destination. It has meaning beyond what is actually seen. Each author has his or her own skillful way of instilling thematic meaning into a seemingly inanimate object, which then becomes a powerful symbol. In gruesome reality stories like The Lottery, Jackson uses the black box as a strong representation of tradition, while in books inspired by sociocultural situations like The Smell of Apples, Behr successfully uses apples and whales to portray the innocence of a child. The more we begin to compare and contrast these works with each other, the more interesting and real the conclusions we draw become. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay To begin with, Jackson's box symbolizes the fear of change. We read that the box is so broken and worn that it had to be rebuilt into a newer box using its old parts. Yet villagers have used it for decades, even though its opening rituals have been forgotten due to the increase in population with each generation. This fact clearly shows that the most significant elements of the past, according to the villagers, should be preserved as much as possible despite the dark, ugly and defective aspects. Obviously, the box plays a pretty important role in maintaining village traditions. Similarly, Behr uses apples as a symbolic means of remembering the heroic past. Apples were brought to South Africa by the Afrikaans hundreds of years ago when they invaded the country in pieces in order to rebuild it, with their own systems and set of rules that everyone had to obey blindly. Over the years, it has become a typical symbol of their achievements and domination over the native land. However, these same apples that today's Afrikaaners are so proud of receive a stain of Afrikaaner brutality when Johan Erasmus' sperm is transferred to their skin via Frikkie. As one of the most militarily important people in government, Johan is a reflection of the white supremacist thinking prevalent within the Afrikaaner community at large. By raping an innocent child, he tarnishes this heroic historical image among readers. Thus, the apples illustrate how contaminated the Afrikaaners are, as they were when they set foot in South Africa to victimize innocent citizens. Unlike apples, the black box is only presented to the public for two hours per year. During these hours, all the villagers do their best to keep their distance because, like normal humans, they are afraid of death. This clearly foreshadows the future conflict. Yet some elderly villagers like Mr. Summers confidently take on the responsibility of keeping the special box with them for the rest of the year. We quickly realize that the old men play the most important role in controlling and implementing such a tradition. They take advantage of the fact that this tradition leaves most of the villagers unharmed to keep it going. This shows the power of tradition as it is perpetuated by those in charge. Unlike how the box is cherished by the powerful, the apple-smelling whales typify the weak victims living in fear in apartheid-era Cape Town. Whales are captured and killed en masse every year for no good reason. This is analogous to the conflict over the end of social justice. For example, the discrimination of mixed race people by white people. In.