THE LOTTERY BY SHERLEY JACKSON THE TITLE: THE LOTTERY • When we consider the title, we mistakenly think that the story is going to be about prize winning, but the end of the story unveils the total opposite of what we expect. • We come to learn that the winner of the Lottery is going to be stoned to death. • We are faced with a very ironic title. A title which deranges and upsets our expectations. • The specific details Jackson describes in the beginning of “The Lottery” set us up for the shocking conclusion. SETTING - Jackson opens her story with specific details about the day on which the lottery takes place. She tells us the date (June 27), time (about 10 a.m.), and temperature (warm). - For the lottery's temporal setting—a day in mid-summer—it indicates a period of unconstrained growth and uncontrolled abandon. - She describes the scene exactly: there are flowers and green grass, and the town square, where everyone gathers, is between the bank and post office. - She provides specific details about the town: a small village including the number of inhabitants and how long the lottery takes. It could also be located pretty much anywhere. This evokes the universality of the story’s themes and experiences. - The references to other neighboring towns , which have more people and must start the lottery earlier. - This contributes to our sense that Jackson isn't talking about any specific community but is instead critiquing society as a whole. • Far from being superfluous or irrelevant, these initial specific details ground the story in reality. • The world Jackson creates seems much like the one we know. And then the stoning begins, turning reality on its head. • Jackson builds suspense in “The Lottery” by relentlessly withholding explanation and does not reveal the true nature of the lottery until the first stone hits Tessie’s head. • By withholding information until the last possible second, she builds the story’s suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion. THE LOTTERY SUMMARY • On a warm day in late June (the 27th, to be exact), villagers gather in the square to participate in a lottery run by Mr. Summers, who officiates at all the big civic events. • The children arrive first and begin collecting stones until their parents call them to order. Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late and chats briefly with her friend, Mrs. Delacroix. It's just another day in an idyllic small town. • Mr. Summers calls each head of the household (always a grown man) forward to a black wooden box, where each selects a slip of paper. Once the men have chosen, Mr. Summers allows everyone to open the paper and see who's been selected. The lucky person selected: Bill Hutchinson. • His wife immediately starts protesting—so we get the sense, somehow, that they're not about to win a couple million dollars. What kind of lottery is this, exactly? • There are five people total in the Hutchinson family. Mr. Summers places five slips of paper into the box and each member of the family draws. Tess (Mrs. Hutchinson) draws a slip of paper with a big black dot in the center. Not good. • The villagers advance on her, and it becomes crystal clear what the prize for the lottery really is: a stoning. Tess protests in vain as the villagers attack her. CHARACTERS • Tessie Hutchinson: – Jocular and friendly. She is excited about the lottery and fully willing to participate every year. – Shows up late as if she is unconsciously avoiding participation in the lottery. – She was marked to die by drawing a dotted slip of paper. The unlucky loser of the lottery. – The only character who could denounce the lottery as a practice. “It wasn’t fair!” – Her protest is misplaced in time and goal as she realized she was going to be the lottery’s victim. She objects on the basis that it's unfair, not that it's immoral or unnecessary. – Whatever her motivation is for speaking out, she is effectively silenced. • Bill Hutchinson: – Tessie’s husband. Stoically accepting his fate. – His domestic authority is insignificant in comparison to the village’s authority. – Unlike his wife, he’s compliant and even willing to forsake his wife for the lottery ritual to take effect. • Mr. Summers: – Outgoing and cheerful personality. – Enthusiastic to conduct the lottery. – Mr. Summers is pitied by the townspeople for having a nagging wife. – His jokes with the participants make the lottery another ordinary local event. – No one seems to question his leadership of the lottery. It’s up to him to draw the black circle that ultimately condemns someone to death. – His domestic authority falls short of his authority over the lottery proceedings. • Old Man Warner: – Dismayed by the changes he sees around him. A loyal advocate for keeping things exactly the way they are. – Represents the reluctance of the villagers to cast aside outdated and meaningless traditions that hinder progress and growth. – Associates the lottery with a civil society. Only the lottery keeps society stable. – “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. – These illogical, irrational fears reveal that Old Man Warner holds a strong belief in superstition. • Mr. Harry Graves – The postmaster. Mr. Graves helps Mr. Summers prepare the papers for the lottery and assists him during the ritual. – His name as such is very telling. – While Summers implies pleasantness and warmth, which is how things seem at the beginning as we watch a village carry out some ceremony that's important to them. Graves implies death, SYMBOLS • The Lottery • The lottery is a way of upsetting reader expectations. The shocking event marks a dramatic turning point in how we understand the lottery. • The ending transforms "The Lottery" from realism to symbolism, as we suddenly understand the town and its inhabitants as being symbolic rather than actual. • The lottery is, in fact, operating as an allegory of village life itself: at first, it seems harmless, but then we start to wonder what's going on, to be shocked by the atrocious tragic end of the winner/loser. • The head of the family draws for the household, and the whole group has to abide by what the head draws. • We often do have to abide by the conditions of our households as a whole – the metaphorical strips of paper that our parents draw. • The norm we see here is that each man is literally choosing not only his fate, but also the fate of his entire family. • Some of us get lucky in the draw, and some don’t. • As soon as we show up in that town square, as soon as we consent to participate in society at large, we leave ourselves open to the chance of catastrophic failure. • So, the lottery thematizes not only life's chances, but also the sudden, unexpected nature of death. • Stones: – Town’s people’s resistance to modernity and change, both a building block and a dangerous weapon – Stones represent the town’s loyalty to ancient rites and their deep-knit ties to the land. – Children are included in the terrifying conclusion of the ritual by gathering the stones and thus ensuring that such rites are passed down to coming generations (participation in communal violence) – They also refer to absence of any pity or regret. – The use of stones also connects the ritual to Biblical punishments of “stoning” people for various sins, which then brings up the idea of the lottery’s victim as a sacrifice. • Black box: – Represents the many years the villagers celebrate the lottery and their connection to their ancestors. – The pitch-black color of the box is symbolically associated with darkness, evil or death. – It holds the villages’ secrets and points out to the meaninglessness of the ritual. – The box also has overtones of racial purity disguised in Christianity. The box required the support of the three-legged stool. – The original box was lost many years ago indicating that the tradition may have served a reason that no longer does now. The lottery looks like something that has outlived its usefulness, as the villagers don't remember why they do it. • Households: – Family bonds are a significant part of the lottery, but the emphasis on family only heightens the killing’s cruelty because family members so easily turn against one another. – The concept of the family whose curse affects each member. The family is misrepresented in the story to accentuate its chaotic and degenerate state of affairs. – Family relationships mean nothing as they do not guarantee loyalty or love once the lottery is over. – The patriarchal family unit with the father as the head symbolizes authority and hierarchy in the town. – So, the individuals’ fates are determined by their family name rather than their actions. THEMES • The banality of evil: - The perpetrator of evil believes that he has acted out of duty and so dismisses any responsibility behind its execution. The villagers are just indulging in some sort of ordinary, harmless ritual passed down from their ancestors. They engage in pleasantries and value politeness while showing kindness and civility toward each other even though they know that one of them is to be executed. - The ritual of the lottery is designed so that all villagers have the same chance of becoming the victim—even children are at risk. Evil spares nobody. - Although Tessie has done nothing “wrong,” her innocence doesn’t matter as she becomes marked for death. - What makes “The Lottery” so frightening is the swiftness with which the villagers turn against the victim and then resort back to their ordinary life remorseless and unguilty. - Tessie only objects on the basis that it's unfair, not that it's immoral or unnecessary. Presumably, she wouldn't have objected if another family had drawn the unlucky slip. It's likely she wouldn't even have objected strongly if someone else in her family had drawn it. This is implied when she tries to bring her oldest daughter into the draw. Based on this, I don't think she's making a principled objection about the evil of the rite, merely a selfish but understandable one. - Tessie’s death is an extreme example of how societies can persecute innocent people for absurd reasons. - Present-day parallels are easy to draw, because all prejudices, whether they are based on race, sex, appearance, religion, economic class, geographical region, family background, or sexual orientation, are essentially random. - People in real life often persecute others without questioning why. Any such persecution is essentially random, which is why Tessie’s bizarre death is so universal. • Tradition and ritual: – Traditions unite the members of any society and are passed down from one generation to another. In the short story, it is a tradition linked to agriculture and the seasons of the earth. There’s some connection between corn and such ritual as stated by Old Man Warner, “lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,” making it a fertility ritual for the villagers as a sign of superstitious belief. – This ritual has become a fatal form of indoctrination that is accepted as a truth because it is backed up by the authority of tradition. It places a great pressure on individuals. - 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. - Jackson writes that the villagers don’t really know much about the lottery’s origin but try to preserve the tradition, nevertheless. - The villagers’ blind acceptance of the lottery has allowed ritual murder to become part of their town fabric as any ordinary routine. - What's particularly important about tradition in "The Lottery" is that it appears to be eternal: no one knows when it started, and no one can guess when it will end. • Conformity: - Conformity connects to the concept of group identity in the lottery. The ritual gives every member a shared experience and a sense of belonging as the villagers think and act as a group. - Nobody could state any dissent or discomfort with the lottery, apart from mild statements from The Adams, until Tessie becomes its victim that she could judge it unfair. - No one wants to take an individual stand against the group and risk being ostracized. - Everybody, including her husband, rushed to silence her. When Tessie was stoned everybody took part in the endeavor. FAMILY STRUCTURE AND GENDER ROLES • "Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else." (51) • This passage is simply more evidence that the villagers are organized as a patriarchy. Families are defined by male heads of household and women’s social identities in the story are defined by the men they marry. • This structure relies heavily on gender roles for men and women, where men are the heads of households, and women are delegated to a secondary role and considered incapable of assuming responsibility or leadership roles. • Mrs. Dunbar asserts that a “wife draws for her husband,” but Mr. Summers, who runs the lottery proceedings, asks whether Mrs. Dunbar has a grown son who could draw for her. Women are seen as more important or responsible than children, but as less important than men—even than male children who are barely old enough to accept the adult responsibility of drawing in the lottery. • Women are considered so inferior that even a teenaged son would replace a mother as the “head of household.” The formality surrounding these proceedings shows Mrs. Dunbar’s involvement to be an anomaly for the village. • Still, we have to note that, while it's only men who get to do the active choosing, their wives are absolutely willing participants in the event. So even though tradition is keeping them in places of diminished power, they seem to support their inferior status as traditionally conceived of. THE LOTTERY PLOT DIAGRAM • The story follows a linear plot. It adopts a straightforward storyline that contains all of the plot elements in chronological order. • Exposition (Initial Situation) - 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. - Clearly, the scene has been set for future revelations, which is exactly what the initial situation is supposed to be about. • Conflict: in the story is an external conflict involving the main protagonist in a battle against the rest of the villagers and the bigger social structure. - Bill Hutchinson gets it. His wife protests. - This is the first overt moment of discord we see in the story, as Tess Hutchinson disagrees with the result of the lottery. - The conflict arises when Tessie Hutchinson realizes her husband, Bill, is the center of the villagers’ 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. • Complication (Rising Action) - The entire Hutchinson family, Bill, Tessie, Bill, Jr., 12-year-old Nancy, and toddler Little Davy are called up to the box. Mr. Summers puts five slips of paper into the box, including the one Bill Hutchinson had been holding when he was chosen. - Each member of the Hutchinson family nervously draws from the box. • Climax - Tess Hutchinson wins the lottery. - Each member of the Hutchinson family draws a slip of paper from the box. All of the papers are blank, except for Tessie’s, which has a black dot in pencil on it. - We've finally reached the climactic moment of the story, when we find out who has won this famous lottery – but we're still left with several mysteries. What exactly is the prize, and why does Tess seem so unhappy about being selected to receive it? These questions are what lead us to the next stage … • Suspense - Tess Hutchinson protests the lottery. - This whole lottery business is getting weirder and weirder. Tess has won the lottery – so why does she claim it's unfair? - We've got growing doubts about what the prize is, that Tess is so desperate not to get it. • Denouement (Falling action) - The villagers surround Tess carrying stones. - 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. - Here in the denouement, all suspense is resolved. The villagers ignore Tess's protests as they begin to select the stones they're going to use against her. • Resolution (conclusion) - The villagers begin attacking. As Tessie screams, a stone hits her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, urges the villagers on. The villagers descend upon Tessie with the stones. • Narrator Point of View • Third Person (Objective) • The narrator of "The Lottery" is super detached from the story. • Rather than telling us the characters' thoughts or feelings, the narrator simply shows the process of the lottery unfolding. • The lottery's true purpose comes from the villagers' nervous manners, rather than from insight into their thoughts. • Writing Style: Mainly Journalistic. • Shirley Jackson's diction, or word choice, in "The Lottery" is simple, direct, and informal and creates a matter-of-fact peaceful tone that is at odds with the horror that is the lottery's outcome. This juxtaposition adds to the tension of the story's action. • We go from reading about a small village on a sunny summer day to witnessing the villagers execute a member of their own community, all without the slightest change in tone form the author. • The style appears totally barebones, without any overt emotion. • It might be said to mirror the attitude of the villagers themselves, who for the most part see the lottery as a naturalized way of life. • The villagers express no overt sympathy for Tess, and neither does the story's narration.
