Summary

The Story the Lottery written by Shirley Jackson deals

with a Lottery taking place in a small village.

Who? The villagers, Mr. Summers, Mr. Graves, Mr.

Martin, Bobby Martin, Harry Jones, Dickie Delacroix,
Old Man Warner, Mrs. Hutchinson, Mrs. Delacroix, Bill
Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson, Nancy, Bill Jr., Little
Dave, Mrs. Dunbar, Delacroix, Steve Adams, Mrs.
Graves.

What?
The villagers gather in the square for a lottery. They
use slips of paper instead of wooden chips. The
lottery is conducted by Mr. Summers, with assistance
from Mr. Graves. The Hutchinson family is selected.

When?
The event takes place on the morning of June 27th.

Where?
The gathering happens in the village square, near the
post o ce and the bank.

Why?
The purpose of the gathering is to conduct the annual
lottery, a tradition in the village.
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 How?
Mr. Summers stirs the papers in a black wooden box.
Names are drawn, and each person who is selected
draws for their household. Tessie Hutchinson is
ultimately chosen, and the villagers stone her to
death as part of the ritual.

Atmosphere

The lottery and the black box symbolize the tradition of the village. They represent a ritual that is
followed without question and is being done without question.

The atmosphere re ects a seemingly small-town setting with a nice community gathering for an
event that they consider a normal routine.

The author creates a sense of tension as the story progresses, espaecially when Tessie
Hutchinson realizes that she has been chosen and about to take hear last breath.

At rst the atmosphere appears very posivite and chill, because the story takes place outside on a
sunny day in a small village. The amont of space gives the reader the feeling of freedom and
peace.

The story portrays a society where even the act of stoning a person to death is treated as a
routine event, showing us the normalization of violence in the name of tradition.

The story does not specify a particular year, telling us that this tradition has been going on for
generations.
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