The Lottery Group

Question:

bigdave145
bigdave145
Student
High School - 10th Grade

In "The Lottery" what some details about the enviroment, the townspeople, and the lottery?

Rate question:

Posted by bigdave145 on Saturday September 20, 2008 at 7:11 PM and tagged with envirnment, lottery, the lottery, townspeople.

Answers:

  1. pmiranda2857
    pmiranda2857 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The story takes place in an ordinary town, it could be anywhere in America, the day is June 27th, an early Summer day.

    The town is small, there is an annual event about to take place.  Initially, it is described as a typical small town event, like a picnic, or a contest, or a dance.  Everyone starts to assemble in the town square for the lottery.  

    The assembly of people does not give the reader any clue.  The young children seem excited as they collect rocks and make a pile.  The townspeople are ordinary people, doing everyday things, like washing dishes. They seem happy and unconcerned about what is going to take place.

    In this peaceful setting, the reader has no idea that the lottery is a yearly event that randomly selects a member of the community to be stoned to death.  It is a ritual, a tradition that is blindly followed by everyone with little or no protest.

    It is only Tessie Hutchinson, the winner of the lottery, who questions the selection process.  She says that it was rushed, she is quickly quieted by the others, who see nothing wrong in the process.

    For the people of this town, stoning someone to death has little significance, it is not considered wrong, immoral or unjust.  It is simply the lottery, and like old man Warner says, he has survived 77 lotteries.  They have always had it, to stop it now would be crazy. 

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/lottery/summary

    Rate answer:

    Posted by pmiranda2857 on Sunday September 21, 2008 at 8:06 AM