For the final drawing, one slip is placed in the box for each member of the household: Bill, Tessie, and their three children Each of the five draws a slip, and Tessie gets the marked one The townspeople pick up the gathered stones and begin throwing them at her as she screams about the injustice of the lottery

When Tessie Hutchinson arrives late to the lottery, admitting that she forgot what day it was, she immediately stands out from the other villagers as someone different and perhaps even threatening

Tessie Hutchinson She is excited about the lottery and fully willing to participate every year, but when her family’s name is drawn, she protests that the lottery isn’t fair Tessie arrives at the village square late because she forgot what day it was

The woman selected by the lottery to be sacrificed, she is stoned to death by the villagers at the very end of the story Tessie arrives late at the lottery, saying she forgot the day

Tessie Hutchinson

Bill Hutchinson

Tessie Hutchinson is singled out as the “winner” because she protested against the tradition of the lottery by saying “it isn’t fair” As she protested, everyone even her own husband and three children joined in stoning her to death

“The Lottery” is told in the past tense, from a third-person omniscient point of view This means that the narrator is not a participant in the story’s action and does not use the first-person pronoun “I,” but the narrator does know and can report on the thoughts and feelings of any and all characters

“The Lottery” was controversial because it critiqued blind conformity to tradition It was written when American nationalism was rising in response to growing fears of communism Many readers were thus upset with Jackson’s negative portrayal of conformity, which they interpreted as a critique of patriotis

Hover for more information Internal conflict refers to a psychological struggle within the mind of a character Trying to resolve the struggle creates suspense in the story External conflict refers to the struggle between a character and outside forces such as other characters, circumstances or nature

In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the climax is when Tessie is declared the “winner,” the falling action includes the townspeople gathering around her and stoning her, and the resolution is when the town’s life returns to normal

If Tessie is the protagonist of the story, we can identify the rest of the town—everyone who participated in the lottery process and her subsequent stoning—as the antagonist

By Shirley Jackson Jackson defers the revelation of the lottery’s true purpose until the very end of the story, when “the winner,” Tess Hutchison, is stoned to death by friends and family This shocking event marks a dramatic turning point in how we understand the story

Hover for more information A shocking realization comes to the reader at the end of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson: the community have not been drawing for any prize or reward in the traditional sense Instead, lottery has the ancient meaning:they have drawn lots

Bill Hutchinson is the husband of Tess Hutchinson When she protests his selection in the lottery, he tells her to shut up It is unclear why he does so—maybe he believes in the lottery, or perhaps he doesn’t want the family to be shamed in front of the entire village

Why did everyone sigh when little Dave’s paper was blank? Everyone sighed because little Dave is only a child and his life was practically spared from being stoned to death The villagers are holding the annual lottery that will choose one person to become a human sacrifice

Answer: Near the end of “The Lottery,” Bill draws the slip with the black spot in the first round, which means that someone in his family will be stoned to death This immediately begins to cause tension within the family and between Bill’s wife Tessie and some of people in the assembled crow

The main themes in “The Lottery” are the vulnerability of the individual, the importance of questioning tradition, and the relationship between civilization and violence The vulnerability of the individual: Given the structure of the annual lottery, each individual townsperson is defenseless against the larger grou

The box has no set home during the year but is stored with different people, including Mr Summers, Mr Graves, and Mr Martin on his grocery shel