"The Lottery"

A detailed Summary of "The Lottery"


"The Lottery" is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. This story portrays many underlying themes. Inequalities between gender and class, and a little sacrificial violence are deeply seeded within the story. Shirley Jackson wrote "The Lottery" to make her readers aware of the violence, inequality of gender, and class inequity that surrounds society.

When Shirley Jackson wrote "The Lottery" she "hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to chock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence...in their own lives. (Kosenko 1). Mrs. Delacroix, who gives the impression of being Tessie Hutchinson's friend, "selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands (Jackson 787)." Both of the instances show that violen


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Woman as an inferior is a concealed theme in "The Lottery". Women are considered as belongings of their husbands just as girls don't take part in collecting stones: They are being taught to be dependent upon men (Kosenko 1). Tessie Hutchinson appeared late to the lottery and the crowd addresses Bill with "here comes your missus, Hutchinson (Jackson 783)." The men did not consider addressing Tessie herself because she is seen as Bill's belonging (Kosenko1). When the Hutchinson's were asked if there were was another household within their family Tessie yelled " There's Don and Eva...Make them take their chance (Lottery 786). Mr. Summer's reply infers that Eva belongs to Don because " Daughters draw for their husbands' families... (J

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 544
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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