Title: The Lottery (1948)

Author: Shirley Jackson

Characters:
Tessie Hutchinson
Mr. Summers
Mr. Graves
Bill Hutchinson
Old Man Warner.
Mr. Adams
Mrs. Dunbar
The Villagers
Setting: The short story, "The Lottery" takes place on the morning of June
27th in a small, unassuming town in rural America. The weather on the day of
the lottery is described by Jackson as pleasant, clear, and warm, giving off a
sense of calm and optimism. The townspeople begin to gather in the village
square around ten o'clock to prepare for the annual lottery.
Theme: Violent and brutal
Summary:

One beautiful morning of June, the villagers of a small town gather in

the square for the town lottery. The lottery takes longer in other towns, but
because there are only 300 people in this village, it takes only two hours.
Village children who have just finished summer school run around collecting
stones. They collect the stones in their pockets and pile them in the square.
The men arrive first, followed by the women. Some parents would gather their
children with them and form a circle.

It was Mr. Summers who runs the lottery because he has a lot of time
and resources to give to the village. He enters the square with the black box
but it was not the original one because it was lost long time ago, and then Mr.
Graves followed, he was the postmaster. 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 mess with tradition. Mr. Summers did,
however, persuade the villagers to replace the traditional wood chips with
slips of paper. Mr. Summers shuffles the paper slips in the box. The night
before, he and Mr. Graves made the papers and then locked the box at Mr.
Summers' coal company. They make a list of all the families and households
in the village before the lottery can begin. Mr. Summers has been sworn in.
Some recall that there used to be a song and salute, but these have since
been lost. Tessie Hutchinson joins the crowd, flustered because she had
forgotten today was lottery day. People make fun of her late arrival as she
joins her husband and children at the front of the crowd.

Mr. Summers inquires whether anyone is missing, and the audience

responds that Dunbar is not present. Mr. Summers inquires as to who will
draw for Dunbar, and Mrs. Dunbar responds that she will because she does
not have a son who is old enough to do so. Mr. Summers inquires if the
Watson boy will draw, and he responds that he will. Mr. Summers then
requests that Old Man Warner be present as well. Mr. Summers goes over
the lottery rules with everyone: he'll read names, and the family heads will
come up and draw a slip of paper. Nobody should look at the paper until
everyone has finished drawing. He calls out everyone's name and greets
them as they come up to draw on the paper. Mr. Adams informs Old Man
Warner that people in the north village may stop participating in the lottery,
and Old Man Warner mocks young people. He claims that giving up the lottery
could lead to a return to cave living.

Mrs. Adams claims that the lottery has already been abandoned in
other villages, and Old Man Warner claims that this is "nothing but trouble."
Mr. Summers has finished calling names, and everyone has opened their
papers. Tessie claims that it wasn't fair because Bill didn't have enough time
to choose a paper, and word quickly spreads that Bill Hutchinson has "got it."
Mr. Summers inquires whether the Hutchinson family has any other
households, to which Bill responds that there are none because his married
daughter draws with her husband's family. Mr. Summers inquires about Bill's
children, to which he responds that he has three. Tessie protests once more
that the lottery was unfair. Mr. Graves throws the papers out of the box and
replaces them with five papers for the Hutchinsons. When Mr. Summers calls
their names, each member of the family stands up and draws on a piece of
paper. When they open their slips, they discover that Tessie has drawn the
black dot on the paper. Mr. Summers orders everyone to hurry. The villagers
grab stones and rush toward Tessie, who is standing in the middle of the
crowd in a clearing. Tessie complains and is hit in the head with a stone.
Everyone starts throwing rocks at her.