The Lottery Short Story

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

And now it becomes meaningless, and they are just blindly following the tradition that they have always done. Old Man Warner is the oldest person in the town and have been a part of the lottery for seventy-seven years. He is the only one that strongly believes that the lottery is a good thing and they should never stop doing it. Old Man Warner says, “[There] 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.” (52) Old Man Warner talks about how the lottery correlates to the presence of more corn crops, and he strongly states that without the lottery, they would be eating chickweed and acorns. This is probably the original reason for why they started the lottery, it was to have good crops. Old Man Warner is the only one who truly cares about the lottery, the other villagers just do it to follow their tradition. Old Man Warner thinks that “nothing’s good enough for [the people who have stopped the tradition of the lottery.]” (52) He strongly opposes the idea of not having the lottery and he thinks that the people who have stopped it are out of their minds.

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.

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).

Old man Warner plays a significant role in “The Lottery” considering he is one of the main symbols. Old man Warner is the oldest man in the town, and has participated in seventy seven of the lotteries. Mr, Warner represents the tradition of the lottery in his

The first technique present in this story is symbolism. Two items are used during the lottery: a black box and stones. In a way, the black box holds each and every persons destiny and fate. The fact that it is black is a symbol of what they ahve witnessed every year: death. Every year, the lottery is taken place and, at the same time, death makes its mark. It comes back to take whoever’s been left behind. Like the old saying “It is always darkest before dawn”, death hangs over them until they have pleased the gods; until they have a lifetime supply of crops. This story brings us into the darker side of the lottery. The side where not everything is as it seems. If it weren’t for the color of the box, it would have been harder to interpret where the story was heading off to. The second items where the stones: “the young boys begin to gather their stones and make a pile in the corner, guarding them like their most prized weapon”. The stones symbolize the beating of a person, in

Cite textual evidence to support your theme statements. Give one example from your story (quote and page number) to support each of the themes you have listed.

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 in “The Lottery” is not a lottery for great winnings with one winner; it is a lottery for life with one loser. The lottery is a long standing tradition in the village. Old Man Warner recalls “Seventy-seventh year I have been in the lottery.” (Jackson in Kennedy and Gioia, p. 254) Though “much of the ritual had been forgotten or discarded,” (Jackson in Kennedy and Gioia, p. 252). Mr. Summers, the administrator of the lottery, gives directions to the nervous participants; “Now, I’ll read the names-heads of families first-and the men come up and take a paper out of the box.

Jackson story is very similar to Collins. In The Lottery, there is no explanation on why this tradition is necessary or why it has to be done. Jackson does make it clear that she does introduce the oldest character; Old Man Warner is making the statement that “there's always been the lottery” (Jackson). Later on in the story; its mentioned that the other townspeople mentioned in quitting the tradition and Old Man Warner said “ Nothing but trouble in that” (Jackson). Jackson used Old Man Warner’s character and old age to represent the older generations that have a hard time adapting to changes. When Mr. Adams mention quitting the tradition, Old Man Warner’s response was “Pack of crazy fools. Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll want to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon.’ The first thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery. Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everyone” (Jackson). Old Man Warner’s Character shows how the older generations have a harder time adapting to change. The younger generations usually are the ones who introduce change, which is looked down upon by more of the traditional person. It's interesting the way Jackson made Old Man Warner of the

When a loving, caring, family oriented, women come in conflict with the horrible, despicable, inhumane lottery in a situation in which the town goes together, the results may be a terrible end in a young life. In “The Lottery” written by, Shirley Jackson, the main character Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson’s and the town folk are the main characters of this story. In “The Lottery” Shirley Jackson uses the use of characterization to portray the main ideas of the story. Shirley Jackson also uses the use of plot structure and the point of view in which the story is being told. The Lottery is a way to make a sacrifice for a good harvest in the upcoming season.

Already, it is clear that the lottery is especially old. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, proves that the lottery is an old tradition: “‘Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery,’ Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. ‘Seventy-seventh time (p.23, lines 280-282) .’” 77 years is a long time for a tradition to be going on. This line of text undoubtedly shows how old the lottery must be if Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town remembers participating in the lottery for 77 years. Another example is on page 16, and lines 93-96: “Because so much of the ritual had been forgotten or

The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, is about a small town that dedicates a day to killing one person from the town by stones. The head of the household each draw a paper from the box and whoever receives the one with the black dot, their family has to draw again. Whichever family member has the black dot, essentially wins the lottery. One character in the story, Old Man Warner, has survived each lottery that has happened. Warner has a lack of guilt and claims the lottery should be an occurrence each year. The mention of discontinuing the lottery irritates Warner. “‘Pack of crazy fools,’ he said… ‘There’s always been a lottery…’” (Jackson). He also expresses his dislike for the lack of seriousness when he comments on Mr. Summers, a man “who had the time and energy to devote to civic activities” (Jackson), joking around with the crowd. Perhaps the reason Old Man Warner is accepting towards this event is because this is the “Seventy-seventh year [he][has] been in the lottery” (Jackson). He also comments on how the people have changed. Exclaiming “‘It’s not the way it used to be… People ain’t the way they used to be’” (Jackson). Warner feels no remorse towards the lottery and believes it should continue as a tradition.

Jackson’s narrator mentions that Mr. Summers always talks about getting a new box, but the talk would fade off, “The box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely back, but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (293). This gives the reader a description on how long this tradition of the lottery has been going on for over seventy years. Jackson’s Character Mr. Adams mentioned to Old Man Warner that the north village wanted to give up on “The Lottery” Old Man Warner responded, “Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody works any more, live that way for a while. Used to be saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’” (297). Old Man Warner was trying to say that they have been doing this Lottery for the longest time and it became a tradition that it shouldn’t be taken away. As the kids were mentioned in the beginning of the story, “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest rocks” (Jackson

The morning of April 1st was sunny and bright; the ground was moist and flowers of vibrant colors were blooming. The olive green trees were swaying in a gentle breeze and the river by the village was teeming with fish. A rainbow glowed against the blue sky, catching every villagers’ attention. The villagers of Shiveria had begun to assemble at the center of the village where the annual lottery was being held. Because of the town’s small population of 400 people, the lottery would probably take less than 3 hours.