The Lottery (1948) by Shirley Jackson Jocelyn Borkowski

1- I was not surprised by the ending of the story because of foreshadowing. In paragraph two,

“Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones,” and others followed. Along with

the tone in paragraph 4 as, “The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves

and the stool.”, suggesting the lottery was a negative or intense experience. In this story Jackson

lulls us into thinking that it is an ordinary story in an ordinary town, with normal activities for

the characters in the introduction. Such as the children playing and the women gossiping.

2- This story takes place in a village square on the sunny, summer morning of June 27th in the

distant past. The setting affects the story by adding a mood. Being in a village, it seems to be

civilized in the beginning. The story taking place in summer, where “the flowers were

blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.”, put forward a light mood. This made the

ending less predictable because with the mood, a more positive outcome is expected.

3- The characters are differentiated from one another not only by their names, but their thoughts

on the lottery. An example of this is a conversation in the story where ending the lottery is

discussed. Tessie Hutchinson is most likely singled out as the winner because of her attitude

toward the lottery. She had stood out in the story first, when she arrived late to the lottery. Then,

when her husband had picked the “winning” paper, she claimed it wasn’t fair, and tried

volunteering her daughter to make a lesser chance of her winning herself.

4- The title “The Lottery” could be considered ironic because a lottery usually results in a

reward, while this one results in being stoned. The opening paragraph is also ironic due to the

fact it presents the day to be a normal summer day in the village. Also how characters are
concerned about attendance at the lottery; at first glance it appears they are concerned about their

neighbors, when in actuality they are concerned every person has an equal chance of “winning”.

5- The two most interesting names in the story are Summers and Graves. Summers symbolizes

the season, which is flowers, sun, and warmth. On the other hand, Graves symbolizes a place the

deceased are placed, representing death. This is ironic because Mr. Summers is the conductor of

the lottery. Mr. Graves name is ironic because he assists in the lottery, that again results in death.

7- The wooden black box and the black spot on the fatal slip of paper suggest death. The black

box is described as battered due to its age and the use year after year in the ritual. This could

symbolize that the ritual itself is also getting old. The stones grabbed by the children could

symbolize the anticipation and even excitement for some, in the beginning as they ran and

played, grabbing said stones.

8- I understood the writers’ attitude about the lottery to be disapproving. The writer shows

societal violence, with the ritual being a scapegoat for said violence. The story shows some

reluctance toward the violence, but ultimately the ritual is tradition. The author presents much

stress and disagreement through the character Tess Hutchinson.

9- The kinds of traditions, practices, and laws “The Lottery” represents could be religious, family

tradition, or government laws.

10- Jackson might be making those aware of how bad of an idea it is to just stand by and witness

such horrific events such as the Holocaust. During this war, citizens blindly followed the

instructions of Nazi authorities under Hitler. These people witnessed such horrific events as

those they knew being taken away and killed for no reason, just for being Jewish. This is similar
to The Lottery as the neighbors in this story did nothing to stop the ludicrous death of those they

knew. Since they weren’t the ones being directly affected by it, they just let it be someone else’s

problem. When authority is not at all disputed by the citizens and they don’t take initiative to

make things better, innocent lives are taken.