The Lottery

Assignment
On
The Lottery

Submitted to:

Submitted by:

Mrs. Seema Sharma

Rohit Verma

Designation: Asst. Proffesor

Course: B.A. LLB (1st Semester)

Department: English

Enrollment No. :

Raffles University, Neemrana, Rajasthan

The Lottery

Index
1) Introduction
a) Introduction of author
b) Life and work
2) Plot
3) Thematic Construction
4) Summary
5) Characters
6) Symbolism
7) Conclusion
8) Bibliography

The Lottery

Acknowledgement
The successful completion of any task would be incomplete without
accomplishing the people who made it possible and whose constant
guidance and encouragement secured me the success
I take this opportunity to express my profound sense of gratitude to the
support our guide, Mrs. Seema Sharma, who helped us by giving valuable
suggestion whenever required.
This acknowledgement will be incomplete if i do not mention the blessings of
parents and family members. I also express my gratitude towards colleague
for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion
of this project.

The Lottery

Preface
Jackson based "The Lottery" on her life in North Bennington, Vermont. "The
Lottery" is set, in addition to the vicious twist the story gives to a common
American ritual, enhance the contemporary reader's uneasy sense that the
group violence in the story could be taking place anywhere and everywhere,
right now. Jackson's skillful warping of a popular pastime has become an
American classic, establishing her position as one of the great American
horror writers.

The Lottery

Introduction
Intorduction of Author:
Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 August 8, 1965) was an
American author. She was a popular writer in her time, and her work has
received increased attention from literary critics in recent years. She entered
in Syracuse University in 1937.
In the same year her first story Janice was published. After winning a poetry
contest in Sycrause she met her future husband young rising literary critic
Stanely Edgar Hyman. They both founded a library magazine spectre with
Hyman as editor.
Both Jackson and Stanely got graduated in 1940 and they moved to
Newyorks Greenwhich village. In that village Shirley wrote everyday without
fail while they worked odd days.After writing so many stories on 8 august
1965, at the age of 48, Shirley Jackson died unexpectedly of heart failure
during her usual afternoon nap.
Life And Work:
Jackson also wrote novels like The Haunting of Hill House and We Have
Always Lived in the Castle as well as the witty, embellished memoir Life
Among the Savages, about her domestic experiences. Often relying on
supernatural themes, she was known for tackling provocative, chilling
subject matter that was culturally incisive and held metaphors for how
people dealt with differences. She was married to critic Stanley Edgar
Hyman, with the couple having four children.
Shirley Jackson died on August 8, 1965, from heart failure. Decades later,
two of her children, Laurence Jackson Hyman and Sarah Hyman Dewitt, have
become editors for a collection of her unpublished works, Let Me Tell You:
New Stories, Essays, and Other Writings. The compilation, released in August
2015, helps to mark the 50th anniversary of Jackson's death.

The Lottery

Plot
The villagers of a small town gather together in the square on June 27, a
beautiful day, for the town lottery. In other towns, the lottery takes longer,
but there are only 300 people in this village, so the lottery takes only two
hours. Village children, who have just finished school for the summer, run
around collecting stones. They put the stones in their pockets and make a
pile in the square. Men gather next, followed by the women. Parents call their
children over, and families stand together.
Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he has a lot of time to do things for
the village. He arrives in the square with the black box, followed by Mr.
Graves, the postmaster. This black box isnt the original box used for the
lottery because the original was lost many years ago, even before the town
elder, Old Man Warner, was born. Mr. Summers always suggests that they
make a new box because the current one is shabby, but no one wants to fool
around with tradition. Mr. Summers did, however, convince the villagers to
replace the traditional wood chips with slips of paper.
Mr. Summers mixes up the slips of paper in the box. He and Mr. Graves made
the papers the night before and then locked up the box at Mr. Summerss
coal company. Before the lottery can begin, they make a list of all the
families and households in the village. Mr. Summers is sworn in. Some people
remember that in the past there used to be a song and salute, but these
have been lost.
Mr. Summers finishes calling names, and everyone opens his or her papers.
Word quickly gets around that Bill Hutchinson has got it. Tessie argues that
it wasnt fair because Bill didnt have enough time to select a paper. Mr.
Summers asks whether there are any other households in the Hutchinson
family, and Bill says no, because his married daughter draws with her
husbands family. Mr. Summers asks how many kids Bill has, and he answers
that he has three. Tessie protests again that the lottery wasnt fair.
Mr. Graves dumps the papers out of the box onto the ground and then puts
five papers in for the Hutchinsons. As Mr. Summers calls their names, each
member of the family comes up and draws a paper. When they open their
slips, they find that Tessie has drawn the paper with the black dot on it. Mr.
Summers instructs everyone to hurry up.

The Lottery

The villagers grab stones and run toward Tessie, who stands in a clearing in
the middle of the crowd. Tessie says its not fair and is hit in the head with a
stone. Everyone begins throwing stones at her.

Thematic constructions of story:There are several major themes in story The Lottery. Jackson wrote the
story was to draw attention to the inhumanity of violence. Jackson wants to
say that society had become used to violence. They become numb to it.
Jackson wanted to bring this issue in front of society.On the other hand,
Jackson wants to draw attention toward traditions.
She wants to write that not all traditions of this society are good. She makes
an argument that some traditions are wrong and cruel and they should be
abandoned. Traditions are deeply rooted, however it is difficult to change
these traditions or to get rid of these traditions because they became part of
community heritage and history. Peole get used to them which makes them
difficult to get rid of.
Through this story Jackson wants to convey a message to the society that
things are not always as they seem. Seemingly norman people can do
terrible deeds.

The Lottery

Summary
On a late summer morning, the villagers of a small New England town gather
to conduct their annual lottery. There is an air of festivity among them,
especially the children. Only a few in the crowd reveal slight hints of tension
or unease.
The lottery has a long history in this and surrounding towns. The people who
run itin this town, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graveswork hard to preserve the
rituals that have been passed down from year to year. Changes have crept
in, and some old-timers such as Old Man Warner regret what they perceive
as a loss of a heritage that has preserved the happiness and prosperity of
the town over time.
Mr. Adams, head of the Adams' household and the man who would be
drawing for the Adams family during the Lottery, turned to Old Man Warner
who was participating in his 77th Lottery. Adams shared that the North
Village was having talks about giving up the Lottery. Warner snorted. He
grumbled, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon."
One by one each male head of the household (or woman if there was no man
to take her place) walked up to the box in alphabetical order and drew a slip
of paper from the box. They were asked to keep it folded in the palms of their
hands without looking. When every family had a slip of paper, the men were
allowed to look. Bill Hutchinson had drawn the slip of paper with the black
dot.
All the villagers finally arrive, Tessie Hutchinson being one of the last. Mr.
Summers conducts the preliminaries, ensuring that each family is
represented and that those who are absent have someone on hand to draw
for them. Finally the lottery begins: Heads of families step forward and draw
small paper slips from the black box that Mr. Summers keeps for the
occasion. As this goes on, townspeople engage in small talk, and the air of
festivity gives way to a pervasive aura of nervousness.
When all the slips are drawn, Bill Hutchinson discovers that he has picked the
one marked with a black spot. Immediately Tessie begins complaining that
the drawing was not conducted properly. Others encourage her to be a good
sport, however, and her protests fall on deaf ears. She and the other
members of her immediate family now come forward and draw slips, as
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The Lottery

various townspeople whisper apprehensively. Tessie draws the slip with the
black spot. Mr. Summers commands, Lets finish quickly.

The townspeople now move off to a cleared spot outside the town, Tessie in
the center of the group. A desperate woman now, Tessie entreats the crowd
to go through the ritual again, doing things fairly. Ignoring her protests, the
men, women, and children of the town begin stoning her.
The villagers armed themselves with pebbles and gave Bill's youngest son
stones as well. Tessie was still protesting about time and redoing the Lottery
when the first stone hit her in the side of the head. The villagers did not stop
throwing.
Characterization
The characters of "The Lottery" all have stable, traditional types of family life
the households we meet contain a mother, a father, and a few children. As
we might expect, the villagers all appear well adjusted and sociable. This is
true for most of "The Lottery," but alters abruptly when the true meaning of
the annual tradition is revealed. Family life is thus used as a tool of
characterization that lulls us into a false sense of security.
There is one glaring exception to dominant type of family life we see in the
story. Mr. Summers has no children and his wife is a scold, leading the
villagers to feel sorry for him. We can assume his lack of a strong family life
allows Mr. Summers to give so much of his time to civic activities.
Summers:Mr. Summers was a man with round faced jovial man. He ran the coal
business and people feel soory for him as he had no child and his wife was
argumentative in nature. He had time and energy and interest in organizing
civic activities like organizing lottery. He was creative in nature as old box for
lottery was lost but he was able to arrange the new one. This year he was
able to arrange slips of paper in place of chips of wooden that were used for
generations as paper slips were easy for lottery process. Mr. Summers was
engaged in social activities. No one seems to question his leadership of the
lottery and it was never challenged. He has complete control. He have
creative mind as he was able to substitue the chips of wood by slips of paper.
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The Lottery

.Tessi Hutchinson :When she arrives late admitting that she forgot .

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The Lottery

Symbolism
Black Box :The black box denotes connection of villagers to tradition as when Summers
asked to replace it then some vilaagers relate the box to religion. They
believed that this box may be made from hards of previous box.Like lottery
the whole box has no functionality expect during those two hours. It sent one
year in Mr Gravess barn and another in post office.The box also denotes
mystry. There was no surety that what was inside the box andother things.
As there were no surety that what will happen in lottery same nothing was
known about the box also.
Stones :Stones allow everyone to participate in ritualfrom youngest to oldest.stones
are also significant as murdering weapons as they threw stones in end of
stry. Stones shows the violent nature of villagers.

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The Lottery

Conclusion
The story is meant to be shocked by the sudden turn of events; what has
seemed to be a joyous summer festival is in fact a brutal human sacrifice. In
the modern day, and in 1948 when the story was published, human sacrifice
is an unheard-of crime against humanity; for it to be the yearly habit of a
folksy farming community is shocking indeed.

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The Lottery

Biblography
www.enotes.com
www.slader.com
www.sparknotes.com

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