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The Lottery Analysis

Decent Essays

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is the story of a town that is caught up in its old ways and traditions. The story is set in a small town on a beautiful, mid-summers day. People of the town gather as if it is just another summer day, “The lottery was conducted—as were the square dances, the teenage club, the Halloween program…” As the people gather, they see friends and family and talk about random, everyday things. The children play, the parents start conversations. All of the noise stops when suddenly Mr. Summers, the man who conducts the lottery, comes in with a worn and chipped black box. Each head of the family is called up to the black box, and they proceed by each pulling a piece of folded paper out of the box. Mr. Summers calls attention, and each of the men opens their piece of paper. A man named Bill Hutchinson has the piece of paper with a black dot on it. Each member of the Hutchinson family is then called up to the black box, and they each pull a piece of paper out. One by one they each open their piece of paper until somebody gets the black dot. The children, Bill Jr, Nancy, and Dave, all get by with a dotless piece of paper. When it is down to Bill and his wife Tessie, they both open their paper, and it is revealed that Tessie has the black dot. Tessie tries to argue that the process was done too fast and it was not fair, but the townspeople disagree. Each person in the town, including the children, pick up a stone and proceed to throw them at

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