Story Analysis: The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

there is quiet conversation between friends. Mr. Summers, who runs the lottery, arrives with a black box. The original box was lost many years ago, even before Old Man Warner, the oldest person in the village, can remember. Each year Mr. Summers suggests that they make a new box, but no one is willing to go against tradition. The people were willing to use slips of paper instead of woodchips as markers, as the village had grown too large for the wood chips to fit in the box. A list of all the families and households in the village is made, and several matters of who will draw for each family are decided. Mr. Summers is sworn in as the official of the lottery in a specific ceremony. Some people remember that there used to be a song and salute as part of the ceremony, but these are no longer performed. Tessie Hutchinson arrives in the square late because she has forgotten what day it was. She joins her husband and children before the lottery can begin. Mr. Summers explains the lottery’s rules: each family will be called up to the box and draw a slip of paper. One of the villagers tells Old Man Warner that the people of a nearby village are thinking about ending the lottery. Old Man Warner laughs at the idea. He believes that giving up the lottery would cause nothing but trouble, and a loss of civilized behavior. A woman responds that some places have already given up the lottery. Everyone finishes drawing, and each

In the story, “The Lottery,” there was a tradition in the town that was every year they would have a lottery. One member of each family in the town would go up and pick a piece of paper out of a black wood box. The person who received the paper with the black dot on it would have to draw again along with all the people in their family. This time around it was the Hutchinson

Only when we are introduced to Old Man Warner, the only man in the village old enough to remember some of the traditions, do we get an idea of the purpose of the lottery. It seems to be a pagan harvest ritual, as expressed by his old saying: ??Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon?? (Jackson 369). By participating in the lottery the villages crops will prove to be bountiful. He justifies the use of the lottery simply by stating ?There?s always been a lottery? (Jackson 369).

Jackson introduces the story in specific details, including the time and place of the lottery. She describes the scene, “there are flowers and green grass, and the town square, where everyone gathers, is between the bank and post office.” Before the lottery takes place, the locals are in excited yet nervous about it. They don’t question the tradition because they look at the lottery as something “normal.” Because of Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, the lottery has been a trend every year. He advocates the lottery and is threatened by the idea of change. He thinks that the people who stop holding lotteries will live in caves because he believes that the lottery holds society stable. He is threatened that if the lottery stops, the townspeople will be forced to eat “chickweed and acorns.: He is a stubborn old man who only accepts things the way things have always

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a short fictional story that was published in 1948 and was in the magazine The New Yorker. The setting of the story is a small nice little village with green grass and flowers everywhere.The village was a farming village that mostly supported agriculture. The main characters are Joe Summers, Mr. Graves, and the Hutchison family. The conflict of the story was man versus tradition of the lottery. The lottery had little slips of paper that Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made and one that had a black dot on it. The “winner” is the person with the black dot. The winner has his family draw again to see who is the real “winner”. When drawing, the heads of the households get to draw for the family and can’t look at the slips until everyone is done drawing. Most villages are giving it up. The oldest man in village says, “lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”, as that after the lottery is done crops grow better. When it was done Hutchinson got the “lucky” card and his wife Tessie was making a big deal about it, “it wasn’t fair’’ she said and, “they should redo the lottery, she thought.”Bill Hutchison tells Tessie to shut up and Mr. Graves starts setting up for the last round. Graves took the black dot piece of

town has a lottery every year round. The person that wins the lottery has a huge

In the story there is only one explanation as to why the lottery is used.  This explanation is given by Old Man Warner, who himself has survived seventy six lotteries.  Old Man Warner states, “Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon” (77).  According to this, the lottery was used as a ritual to promote a plentiful harvest season.  In all societies the success of agriculture is vital to survival.  Farmers “can only wait and hope” that the harvest season will be successful. From this hope, meaningless rituals are created, even when the ritual has no direct relationship (Griffin 44).  The townspeople would sacrifice one of their citizens in hopes that it would in some way or another affect the results of the harvest.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a story based on a small New England town or village of 300 people. Each year the townspeople gather to draw slips of paper to decide their fate. If they

The fact that he has participated in the lottery seventy seven times it has become a way of life for him. The lottery has become a part of him. Just like everyday people the use of a cell phone becomes part of us. If someone asked to get rid of this device the people would go into an uproar. Old Man Warren’s motivation is to continue the lottery for as long as he lives. As it is a way of life, and a way to produce a bountiful crop.

In her short story, “The Lottery”, Sheila Jackson invites us into the square of a small village on a warm summer day (247). It is not just any day. It is the 27th of June; an annually anticipated day for this community (Jackson, 247). The scene is described to depict a pre-technology era, most likely resembling an early American town. They have postal service, a school, and a bank, but no mention of devices, such as telephones, or modern transportation is made. (Jackson, 247). It is possible that the author wanted to represent the very basic elements in our humanity when choosing the setting.

The setting is described as a “clear and sunny… full-summer day” and is described with positive connotations which create the impression that the story will be pleasant and ordinary. However, the story goes on to be far from it. As the story progresses the mood shifts from light-hearted and easy-going to tense and apprehensive. The villagers chuckle nervously amongst themselves and gather together quietly as the lottery commences. Once the names are picked the mood instantly becomes appalling and barbarous. The villagers move on towards Tessie and stone her to death without a second’s hesitation. The quote previously presented represents how ironic the story is overall. “The Lottery” starts off with a beautiful, warm day and ends in the brutal murder of an innocent woman. In the text, we see that “The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers. who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced, jovial man” (26). Another form of irony in “The Lottery” is Mr. Summers. He is described as a “round-faced, jovial man” and his last name “Summers” makes him seem warm and amiable. Jackson describing him as such adds on to the beginning

In the story The Lottery the people of the town do this ritual in which they put a paper in a black box. They take out the pieces on paper

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story does not explain why or how this tradition started, but every town has participated for many years. Mr. Summers is the selected official of thie lottery, he has to get everything and everyone ready for it every year. Everyone in town gets together; the heads of each household must pick a slip of paper from a black box. When one of these is selected, every member of his/her family must pick a paper as well. Whoever gets a slip with a black spot must be stoned to death that year. It is unclear as to why this happens, but is is speculated that it has been going on for many years and this yearly sacrifice helps their town be prosperous. Everyone in town, including the children

The story started when people are gathered every end of June for the annual lottery ritual in a small village. All the head of each family are required to grab a slip a slip of paper in the box that is placed in the middle of the village. The in charge of the lottery was Mr. Summer. The conflict occurs when Tessie found out that her husband Bill was the center of the Villager’s attention. There is something on the paper that he picked. Because of that Tessie can’t even accept it and she keep on yelling that it is not fair. She believed that the time given to Bill was not enough to pick the paper that he wanted from Mr. Summer. The entire Hutchinson family, are

“Chips of wood, Mr. Summers had argued, had been all very well when the village was tiny, but now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep growing” (Jackson, 2). The town never had an overpopulation issue, there was never a good enough reason to continue the lottery and even less start it for that matter. The social hierarchy of the town did not allow the people to have a voice and that made them feel intimidated. The people were almost programed and expected to accept and carry this unfair tradition; not because of the meaning of it but because they were scared to ask to let it go in results of things getting worse.