Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" – Analysis Questions

Answer the following questions in complete sentences on your own paper. Provide evidence from the
story to support your answers.

1. Is it important that the original equipment for the lottery had been lost? What do you suppose the
original ceremony was like? Why have some of the villages given up this practice? Why hasn't this one?

2. What is the significance of Tessie's final scream, "It isn't fair, it isn't right"? What aspect of the
lottery does she explicitly challenge; what aspect goes unquestioned?

3. Describe the point of view of the story. How does the point of view affect what we know about the
situation? How does it preserve the story's suspense?

4. The final lines of the story are: "And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles. Tessie
Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the
villagers moved in on her. 'It isn't fair,' she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner
was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with
Mrs. Graves beside him." What do you think of the ending? What does the author want to tell the
readers in the ending of the story?