THE

LOTTERY
(Shirley Jackson)

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

AUTHOR’S BACKGROUND
SHIRLEY JACKSON
 Jackson was born on December 14, 1916, in San Francisco, California,
and grew up nearby in Burlingame.
  She attended the University of Rochester and then Syracuse
University, where she became fiction editor of the campus humour
magazine.
 Among her early works was "The Lottery," the highly controversial and
famous short story about a village that partakes in an annual death
ritual. Jackson, who also wrote such novels as The Haunting of Hill
House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, died of heart failure in
1965.
 Among her early works was "The Lottery," the highly controversial and
famous short story about a village that partakes in an annual death
ritual. Jackson, who also wrote such novels as The Haunting of Hill
House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, died of heart failure in
1965.
THE STORY
THE LOTTERY
The story takes place one morning between ten o’clock and noon on 27 June,
in a village
Somewhere in (presumably) the USA. The year is not stated.
The three hundred villagers are gathering to undertake the annual ritual of the
lottery, which is always drawn on this date every year. Some of the children of
the village are busy making a pile of stones which they closely guard in the
corner of the village square.
The lottery is led by a Mr Summers, who has an old black box. Inside the
black box, slips of paper have been inserted; all of them blank apart from one.
The head of each household, when called up to the box by Mr Summers, has
to remove one slip of paper.
When every household has drawn a slip of paper, the drawn slips are opened.
It is discovered that Bill Hutchinson has drawn the marked slip of paper, and it
is explained that, next, one person from within his family must be chosen. His
family comprises five people: himself, his wife Tessie, and their three children,
Bill Jr., Nancy, and Dave.
Bill’s wife, Tessie, isn’t happy that her family has been chosen, and calls for
the lottery to be redrawn, claiming that her husband wasn’t given enough time
to choose his slip of paper. But the lottery continues: now, each of the five
members of the Hutchinson household must draw one slip from the black box.
One slip will be marked while the others are not.
Each of the Hutchinson draw out a slip of paper, starting with the youngest of
the children.
When they have all drawn a slip, they are instructed to open the folded pieces
of paper they have drawn. All of them are blank except for Tessie’s, which has
a black mark on it which Mr Summers had made with his pencil the night
before.
Now, the significance of the pile of stones the children had been making at the
beginning of the story becomes clear. Each of the villagers picks up a stone
and they advance on Tessie, keen to get the business over with. One of the
villagers throws a stone at Tessie’s head. She protests that this isn’t right and
isn’t fair, but the villagers proceed to hurl their stones, presumably stoning her
to death.

PLOT OF THE STORY

 EXPOSITION
The crowd in the small village has gathered for an annual lottery that takes
place each year at the end of June.
Every head of household is called to grab a slip of paper from the box in the
center of the village square. Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery
 CONFLICT
The conflict arises when Tessie Hutchinson realizes her husband, Bill, the
center of the villager’s attention.
The slip of paper he took has something on it. Tessie begins to yell that it isn’t
fair, and that Bill wasn’t given enough time to choose the paper he wanted by
Mr. Summers.
 RISING ACTION
The entire Hutchinson family, Bill, Tessie, Bill Jr. Nancy, and toddler little
Davy, are called up to the box.
Mr. Summers put five slips of paper into the box, including the one Bill
Hutchinson had been holding when he was chosen.
 FALLING ACTION
Tessie begins to scream that it’s not fair, it’s not right. The villagers begin to
pick up the stones they’d gathered earlier and form a circle around Tessie.
They want to get this over with before noon dinner.
 RESOLUTION
As Tessie screams, a stone hits her on the side of her head. Old Man Warner,
the oldest man in the villages, urges the villagers on. The villagers descend
upon Tessie with the stones.
 CHARACTER ANALYSIS
 TESSIE HUTCHINSON
The woman selected by the lottery to be sacrificed, she is stoned to death by
the villagers at the very end of the story. Tessie arrives late at the lottery,
saying she forgot the day. Her casual attitude as she jokes with her neighbors
changes dramatically when the Hutchinson family is selected in the lottery.
She attempts to claim that the drawing wasn’t fair, appealing, unsuccessfully,
to her neighbors and friends with whom she had chatted amiably just before.
 MR. JOE SUMMERS
The unofficial leader of the village and overseer of the lottery. Mr. Summers
volunteers frequently in civic roles, organizing square dances, teen club, and
the Halloween party. The other villagers pity him for having no children and an
unkind wife. Throughout the lottery’s proceedings he coaxes others to
complete the process efficiently.

 BILL HUTCHINSON
Tessie’s husband who draws the marked slip of paper for his family. He
exhibits little distinct character, although he does forcefully remove the
marked paper from his wife’s hand and tells her to “shut up” as she protests.
 OLD MAN WARNER
The oldest man in the village, Old Man Warner presents the voice of tradition
among the villagers. He speaks strongly in favour of continuing the lottery,
because he claims that to end it would be to return society to a primitive state,
permitting all sorts of other problems to arise.

SYMBOLISM
 THE BOX
The shabby black box represents both the tradition of the lottery and the
illogic of the villagers’ loyalty to it. The black box is nearly falling apart, hardly
even black anymore after years of use and storage, but the villagers are
unwilling to replace it.
 THE STONES
The children take great care in collecting the most perfect murder weapons,
stones that are the roundest and smoothest they can find. They put them in
piles and guard them, like treasure. The stones give them the power over
someone’s life and death, which is a significant moment in their lives. The
stones are the source of fear as well as power and camaraderie, both for the
person who is chosen and for those who are anxious to be part of the mob
that grows from the tradition.
 THE BLACK DOT
The black dot represents impending death. For Tessie, the dot means she
has been chosen to die in this twisted, festive event. The dot also brings to an
end the “fairness” she found in all of the other lotteries she participated in
before now.
 THE LOTTERY
The lottery represents action, behavior, or idea that is passed down from one
generation to the next that’s accepted and followed unquestioningly, no matter
how illogical, bizarre, or cruel. The lottery has been taking place in the village
for as long as anyone can remember.

THEMES
 THE DANGER OF BLINDLY FOLLOWING TRADITION
- The village lottery culminates in a violent murder each year, a bizarre
ritual that suggests how dangerous tradition can be when people follow
it blindly. Before we know what kind of lottery they’re conducting, the
villagers and their preparations seem harmless, even quaint; they’ve
appointed a rather pathetic man to lead the lottery, and children run
about gathering stones in the town square.
- As they have demonstrated, they feel powerless to change or even try
to change anything, although there is no one forcing them to keep
things the same. And they don’t have a reason for doing it other than
the fact that they’ve always held a lottery to kill someone. For them, the
fact that this tradition is reason enough and gives them all the
justification they need.

 THE RANDOMNESS OF PERSECUTION

- Villagers persecute individuals at random, and the victim is guilty of no
transgression other than having drawn the wrong slip of paper from a
box. The elaborate ritual of the lottery is designed so that all villagers
 have the same chance of becoming the victim even children are at risk.
Each year, someone new is chosen and killed, and no family is safe.
What makes “the lottery” so chilling is the swiftness with which the
villagers turn against the victim.

MORAL/LESSON

 SIMPLY BECAUSE SOMETHING HAS ALWAYS BEEN DONE,

DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT IS BENEFICIAL AND SHOULD BE
CONTINUED.

 ONE SHOULD NOT BLINDLY FOLLOW TRADITIONS SIMPLY

BECAUSE THEY ARE TRADITIONS