The Lottery : An Annual Ritual

Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery” (Jackson 4). The lottery has been around for many years and only some villages realize that it is bad. Unlike the village that Old Man Warner is in, they think that the lottery is perfectly fine. “Some places have already quit the lotteries.” Mrs Adams said. (Jackson 4). “Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man Warner said stoutly. “Pack of young fools” (Jackson 4). Old Man Warner thinks that the lottery is okay, it seems as if he doesn’t care about the villagers in his village, he seems to only care about tradition and the

    "The Lottery," a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale about a disturbing social practice.  The setting takes place in a small village consisting of about three hundred denizens.  On June twenty-seventh of every year, the members of this traditional community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story, the reader gets an odd feeling regarding the residents and their annual practice.  Not until the end does he or she gets to know what the lottery is about.  Thus, from the beginning of the story until almost the end, there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is about to happen due to the Jackson's effective

In Shirley Jackson’s  “The Lottery”, There is an annual lottery game in this village on June 27th of every year, this lottery is a ritual that has been in the village for long since, everyone in the village would gather at the time square to participate in it. Mr.Sumner, the lottery official will then brings out the black box and declared the lottery open and states all the rules, “Now, I’ll read the names--heads of families first--and the men com out and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?” (BBR 93). One of this papers will have a black spot that is put on by the coal company owner, whoever gets the spotted paper with the black dot wins the lottery and will be stoned to death.

On June 27, the citizens of a small town gather in the center of town to hold the annual lottery. The children who had recently ended school for the summer arrive first, the boys gathering stones into their pockets or into piles, and the girls gathering and talking among themselves. The men come, talking about crops, weather, and taxes. Next then the women, greeting each other, gossiping and eventually joining their husbands. Parents start calling their children to come join them and all the families stand and wait for the

All the towns people get together on June 27 in the middle of the town square for the drawing of the lottery. The townspeople the lottery is just like any other town gathering like a holiday program, school play, or a dance. Mr. Summers is the person in charge of the lottery; she has to gather the information from all the townspeople about their households the day before the lottery to make a list for the next day. He places papers in a box and mixes them around with one paper with a black dot on it. The townspeople pick out a piece of paper, but only the head of the house which is in most cases the husband. The family that draws the black dot has to then draw once again to see who will lose in their specific household. Unfortunately the person in the family that draws the dot will be stoned to death. This tradition of the town takes place every year and everyone is forced to participate in the lottery. Traditions are hard to break or stray away from; especially in this specific story.

The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is a compelling story about the human race and how it is affected by its surrounding traditions. When the 27th of June arrives, a village is overtaken by a two hour lottery, which includes the picking of stones, a black box and ends in a fight for the “winners” life.

Therefore, because of the lottery being such a respectable tradition, it is strictly enforced to keep it original and antique. For instance, when Mr. Summers addresses the crowd “All ready? Now I’ll read the names –heads of families first—and the men come up to take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hands without looking at it until everyone has had a turn, everything clear” (Jackson, 3)? This quote is a perfect example of the rules and regulations of the lottery, because even though the members of the village have heard this time and time again, Mr. Summers still repeats it. He repeats it because if he does not, the laws of the lottery will be broken which can bring about a bad harvest. Mr. Summers follows an elaborate system of rules for creating the slips of paper and making up the lists of families. When the lottery begins, he lays out a series of specific rules for the villagers, including who should draw slips of paper from the black box and when to open those papers. For generations and generations, these rules were always followed; to insure a good harvest, and follow tradition. The lottery’s unique rules lead up to the randomness of the murder at the end. Meanwhile in the short story Harrison Bergeron, the government admires an egalitarian point of view instead of traditional. The United States of America is run by the Handicapper General, Diana Moon Glampers. Due to the 211th 212th and 213th

In the short story, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, a village has just entered the month of June, meaning that the lottery is to begin. When everyone was present, the heads of the households’ names were called one by one to pick up a slip of paper. It was then discovered that the

“The Lottery” takes place on a warm sunny summer day of June 27, 1948 in New England. The small farming village all gather around ten o’clock around the post office and the bank for the yearly harvest for the lottery. This village is very small compared to other villages, this particular village has only about three hundred people and we know that because the lotter only takes about two hours where other take days. The

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

“The Lottery” a short story by Shirley Jackson, features a small town during the time of their lottery. The lottery is an annual event, organized by Mr. Summers. It is a highly important time, as the whole town comes to the town square on the day of the lottery. The guidelines are quite simple: everyone takes a slip of paper out of the symbolic black box, and the slip of paper with the black mark carved on it, is the “lucky winner”. But their definition of the lottery is different一usually, a lottery is a valuable thing to win. But when Tessie Hutchinson, the “lucky winner” gets her reward by getting stoned to death by the rest of the villagers, it is clear that winning this lottery can't be a good affair... So what is the purpose of this lottery? Rather than discontinuing the lottery, the town continues with it because they don't want to upset an old tradition.

The lottery the town is converging for being by a man named Mr. Summers, who supervises the local coal business.He came carrying the old black ballot box with the postmaster Mr. Graves. He and a couple of the townsmen prop the box on a stool brought by Graves.The stool has existed as long as the older lottery than Old Man Warner. Mr. Summers has mentioned copious times of making a new box, but never follows through. The ballot takes place by using pieces of paper, as opposed to the wood chips of the past.Summers mixes up the paper in the box for the lottery. He and Graves have already made the lottery slips the night before. Mr. Summers is then sworn in but without the salutes and songs of the past.

The lottery is a short story about a small town of villagers who once a year gather in the town square to carry out a tradition that is held every summer. Three important character in this story that I'm going to talk about are Mr. Joe Summers (the leader of The Lottery, Old Man Warner (The oldest man in town) and Tessie Hutchinson (the lucky winner of The Lottery).

The Lottery begins like any other day. Clear and sunny skies, flowers blossoming, and green grass. Seemingly nothing out of the ordinary. Then people begin to gather in the town square. What is this lottery that is taking place? Do the people of the town agree with it? These questions can only be answered by exploring the minds of the people in the town.

The Lottery tells the story of a small, insulated community that each year gathers on the same day to practice what is understood by the reader as a long standing tradition. Firstly, the head of each family selects a slip of paper. All of the slips of paper are blank with the exception of one slip which has a dark