the lottery

A detailed Summary of the lottery

Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" depicts a seemingly average village with average citizens. The citizens of this village participate in an annual lottery in which the winner will be stoned to death. It is believed that the death of the winner will bring heartier crops to the village. Jackson introduces the lottery as a tradition that has been performed and will be done for many years to come. Jackson also stresses the importance of human nature, which is that humans are conditioned to do what is taught since birth. "The Lottery" tells that it is not tradition but ignorance and cowardness which justify the ritual.

In the beginning of the story Jackson paints a picture of a normal village getting ready to celebrate a joyous occasion. She goes further by setting the time of the event. "The people of the village began to gather in the square... so it can begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner" (74). The villagers' acceptance of the lottery and its schedule is justified by tradition. Although some people will read this and say "so what? It's tradition." However, although not me

it's right. He no longer questions the ritual but accepts it; therefore he can gleefully contribute to his mother's murder.

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The citizens gather for the lottery and wait till everyone arrives. As this is taking place a black box is brought out. This box is described as shabby and which, "...grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but with splinters badly along one side..." (75). Many will read this and understand that its constant use is due to continuing traditional values and in time it will start to lose its original color. However, farther along Jackson writes, "Mr. Summer spoke frequently about a new box, but no one liked to upset as much tradition..." (75). This shows that the villagers accept the tradition but do not share in Mr. Summer's idea of a replacement box because this will disrupt the order of the lottery. They are conditioned to relate the original black box with the lottery. It terrifies the citizenry when something is done out of the norm because changes are scary.

y because they are scared to disrupt the routine of life.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shirley Jackson's, Davey Hutchinson, Tessie Hutchinson, Warner Adams, Vilavanh English, Prentice Hall, black box, human nature, Robert Funk, readers read, readers read argue, jackson writes, read argue, lottery tradition, noon dinner, stoned death, normal village, little davey,

Approximate Word count = 894
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science

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the lottery

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