In “The Lottery”, I believe the the main character is Tessie,or Mrs.Hutchinson because she’s the one that protested against the first lottery and was eventually stoned to death after the second lottery. After the first lottery, the center of the story had shifted towards her, and I believe it was because Tessie is the main character of the story.
I believe the inner story of “The Lottery” is ignorance. When I was reading the story, I never saw the ending coming until the first lottery where Mrs.Hutchinson protested the result. Everything just looks fine before that scene. It looks almost like a town with an annual celebration event of harvesting(Since Old Man Warner said “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”.) and the lottery was a reward for
“The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. Jackson declared her purpose for writing the story was “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (pg. 250). The main characters in this story are Mr. Summers who draws the names out of the black box; Mr. Graves the post master that assist Mr. Summers; Bill Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson who were chosen in the lottery; and the townspeople. Jackson uses the bright and friendly atmosphere set the tone of the story. The story starts off on a clear and sunny morning on June 27th. It was a beautiful day with the flowers blooming and the grass green in a small little town of 300 people. In this town the townspeople felt strongly about upholding traditions. Tradition is important to small towns, a way to link families and generations. Following traditions blindly is what can turn into something terrible. The lottery was held each year where one person was
If you lose the lottery you get stoned to death. Tessie Hutchinson drew the card with the black dot on it. If you draw that card you get stoned to death. Tessie Hutchinson is the one person in the town that got stoned to death in this lottery. “The Lottery,” Shirley Jackson uses the symbolism of the box, character’s name and the title itself to develop the theme of traditions/inhumanity.
The short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson was a very strange and unordinary story. When the story first started it was all happy and sounds like nothing is wrong, then it had a surprising twist, somebody got stoned. The evolution of the lottery has had minor changes over the year but one thing has remained constant over the years. The characters in the lottery are hypocritical especially if they are chosen as the winner.
In “The Lottery,” the protagonist is portrayed by Tessie Hutchinson. She is an innocent bystander, although associated with the whole game component, is randomly chosen as the lottery winner. The townspeople as well as Mr. Summers tell her to “be a good sport.” She claims that the whole process was unfair and that other people should have been chosen. The townspeople as well as her family are ready to commit the
They all stand in the town square and pull pieces of paper out of a box. There is one paper that has a black spot on it and Bill Hutchinson, a character in the story, picks this one. His family, the Hutchinsons must put all their paper in another container including the marked one. Now they draw again and Tessie picks out the marked one, and has won. Well at least that is what you would think. But no, instead she most definitely loses. It ends up with her being tied up in the centre of town and all the people of the town throwing stones at her. "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. This is the ending line as Tessie Hutchinson is set on, having lost the lottery. All this just shows how normal seeming people can in fact be inhumane. The way Tessie is treated is a prime example of man’s inhumanity to man. It also goes along with how Piggy is treated in Lord of the Flies, and Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. Another theme in the lottery is that of tradition. Here is what Old Man Warner, a man steeped in tradition, says about the young people of the town trying to abolish the lottery "Pack of crazy fools, 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 work any more, live hat way for a while. Used to be a saying about
The character in the story, Tessie Hutchinson becomes the lottery winner, but really, the she is a victim.
The lottery is usually associated with beating the odds and winning something extravagant. In Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery”, the reader is led to believe the story is about something cheerful and happy given the setting of a warm summer day and children out of school for the summer. Jackson turns winning the lottery into a bad thing. Of 300 villagers Tessie Hutchinson shows up late, claiming she forgot about the annual lottery drawing, but seems very excited to have made it on time. When Tessie was in no danger she is gossiping with neighbors and encourages her husband to draw for the winner. Jackson curiously builds up the character of Tessie so that it seems she is blinded by tradition until she becomes a victim of it
At the beginning of 'The Lottery', there is no specific main character. The main characters at this point would be the entire town as we are given a glimpse into their lives. As mentioned earlier, the
In the short story ,the lottery by Shirley Jackson ,the characters have different feelings about the lottery.Tessie Hutchinson does not like or support the events of the lottery.Tessie obviously tries to forget this day and acts hysterical immediately her husband picks the stained paper.She does not think it is fair until her family is at stake.People feel differently about the lottery and not everyone fully supports it.Old man Warner is very devote to the lottery and is glad he has lived through seventy seven years of it.Mr Warner loves it so much he insults the villages that talk of giving it up.He takes it to heart that other villages plan on giving it up.This story shows how people gullibly follow foul customs and traditions and how
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.
Although Jackson’s “The Lottery” is filled with many different outspoken characters, she utilizes characterization to turn an ordinary housewife into the conflicted protagonist. When Tessie Hutchinson is first introduced to the reader as a flat character, Jackson describes her as just an ordinary citizen “Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders” (Jackson, 1948, para.8). As Jackson’s short story progresses the reader is able to notice how the use of attitude, behavior and interaction develops her protagonist into more of a round character “She hesitated for a
“The Lottery” documents a small village’s voting process for the lottery and the traditions that keep the town close. Some of the main characters are introduced in the initial scene of the townspeople gathering at the town square. The boys in the crowd search for rocks to add to a pile on the side of the square. The schoolgirls of the “village” are standing near them, talking amongst each other. The men of the village came back from work and talked about farming and finance issues farther away from the boys. Then the women, mothers of the children and housewives, emerged from their homes and gossiped before joining their husbands.
When I first started reading “The Lottery” a short story by Shirley Jackson, I thought it was about when the lottery, as we know it today, first originated. After reading the entire short story I couldn’t have been more wrong. It reminds me of the popular book series and movie franchise called The Hunger Games. Even though, I am taken aback by the ending I am not completely surprised, because of the era this story took place in. Had this lottery taken place in today’s modern society in the United States, it would be completely outrageous and horrifying.
Throughout the story, the author reveals nothing about what 'the lottery' actually is. If the author had revealed what the lottery is at the beginning of the story, there would be no reason for the author to keep going and no reason for the reader to keep going either. The reader would know that, in the end, someone would be stoned by random drawing. It is human nature to want to know more.
Throughout this short story the audience is introduced to many characters. Bobby Martin, Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, Mr. Martin, Baxter, Old Man Warner, Bill Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson, Mrs. Delacroix, Mrs. Dunbar, Watson boy, Bill Jr., Nancy, and little Davey. These characters are a key aspect to the lottery. Each character has their own feelings about the lottery at the beginning, but what happens when the lottery affects them and their family? To understand this, the thoughts of individual characters have to be explored.