The Lottery

“The Lottery” is forceful illustration of the point made by Sir Max Beerbohm in Zuleika Dobson: that you cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in...

The setting of Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" takes place in a small, nondescript town located in rural America on the morning of June 27th. Jackson describes the weather on the day of...

One bit of irony is Tessie Hutchinson's arrival to the lottery. Arriving a bit late, she jokes with Mrs. Delacroix, telling her that she "clean forgot what day it was." This indicates that the...

This is one lottery that you would NOT want to win. The premise of this chilling story is that every year, residents of a small fictional town in New England gather in their town square to take...

The townspeople have mixed reactions to the annual lottery. Some are genuinely excited about it—the children who don't know any better think it's an opportunity to play and talk together. Some of...

The primary reason the nondescript village continues to hold the violent lottery concerns their blind adherence to tradition. Old Man Warner symbolically represents the town's strict adherence to...

Here are a few examples of irony in "The Lottery": The title of the story, "The Lottery," is ironic. The word 'lottery' has a positive connotation and implies the people playing want to win. A...

There is no definitive answer for the theme of any short story, including "The Lottery." Some short stories have several themes. In the case of this piece of literature, one of the common...

Shirley Jackson narrates her celebrated short story "The Lottery" using third-person objective narration. Unlike third-person omniscient narration, the objective perspective creates distance...

Determining the climax must be considered in terms of the conflict. The conflict is brought to its highest peak at the climax, after which the conflict is resolved. When reading this story for the...

The point of view of a story can be identified by considering who is telling the story. Is it a person who is part of the narrative? Is it the protagonist of the story, telling the events of the...

In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," she creates tension and builds suspense by foreshadowing the horrific nature of the annual ritual as the reader anxiously anticipates the grim...

In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery," the nondescript rural town holds an annual ritual at the end of each June, where the community gathers in the village square to participate in the...

Near the end of "The Lottery," Bill Hutchinson 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...

Written three years after World War II, Jackson's "The Lottery" can be read as satirizing the high levels of conformity that existed in American society. Wars demand a higher level of social...

Shirley Jackson intentionally leaves the original purpose of the lottery a mystery. It is important to the story that none of the characters should know why or when it started and what was its...

In the beginning of "The Lottery," the author effectively lulls the reader into a false sense of tranquility. The first words used to describe the scene are "clear and sunny." She goes on to tell...

The main conflict of the short story is Tessie Hutchinson versus her village, which subscribes to the brutal tradition of the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson believes that Mr. Summers did not give her...

In "The Lottery," Jackson says that the black box represents tradition, hence the villagers' reluctance to replace it, despite its shabbiness. The box also implicitly symbolizes death. This...

The setting of "The Lottery" has all the appearance of being a wholesome small town in rural America. Through imagery and detail, like "the flowers were blooming profusely, and the grass was...

The main conflict of this short story is character versus society because it is society that insists upon the continuation of the lottery as a tradition, and it is this tradition—upheld by...

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...

A good summary of any literary work will enable someone who has not read the story to get the gist of what happens just by reading your summary. A summary of "The Lottery" would need to include...

There is a suggestion in this story that by having the lottery each year, a human sacrifice to unseen forces in the universe or gods, that the survival of the town is assured for another year....

The author also uses symbolism. The black box into which the slips of paper are inserted is symbolic of fate and of the bizarre traditions the town follows. Though the black box is worn and shabby,...

Three character traits of Tessie Hutchinson are tardiness, resistance, and suppression. Tardiness Mrs. Hutchinson is late arriving at the designated place where the annual lottery is held. She...

There are three reasons why Old Man Warner does not want to give up the Lottery. First, Old Man Warner actually believes that the Lottery is good for the town. Twice he calls young people a "pack...

In Shirley Jackson's celebrated short story "The Lottery," the nondescript community participates in a violent, senseless ritual every June, which results in the brutal death of a random innocent...

Jackson's work examines the issues such as human cruelty, social sanctioning of violence, as well as marginalization leading to victimization. These themes encompass specific traditions,...

Upon performing a close reading of "The Lottery" we find that the villagers have little to no knowledge of what exactly it was, what it was for, nor why it was still being conducted. We find...

The setting of Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" takes place in a small New England farming village in a relatively isolated region on June 27th. The small, innocuous village is initially...

In the beginning, the tone of the story is pleasant and gentle. Jackson achieves this through her use of imagery. She creates a very idyllic setting, for example, in which the sun is shining, it is...

One thing that Jackson is saying about people in general is that behavior that is not examined in light "clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day," is dehumanizing of self as...

The imagery of the story tends to be employed through the use of synecdoche (i.e. the use of appropriately chosen small detail) rather than via comparisons (simile, metaphor, personification etc.)...

Shirley Jackson examines the dangers of blindly following traditions and rituals throughout her short story "The Lottery." While Jackson is not suggesting that all traditions and rituals are...

The lottery could really represent any tradition or practice that now seems outdated, meaningless, or even inhumane. The story conveys just how important it is to keep evaluating traditions for...

The theme, or central idea, of "The Lottery" is the need to examine the traditions we follow and to abandon or radically modify those that are harmful. We shouldn't stick to a tradition, the story...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is about life in a seemingly idyllic small town on the morning of June 27th. The townspeople are gathering in the town square for a communal event. Jackson describes...

Jackson deliberately refrains from letting the reader know that the lottery in her story ends with a brutal death by stoning because she wants to surprise and shock the reader and because she wants...

I think Tessie's cries at the end of the story also point to a fairly negative aspect of human nature. We often don't try to understand or empathize with another's plight until something similar...

It is a bucolic setting of sunshine, rich green grass, and blossoming flowers that lies in contrast to an atmosphere of uneasiness in "The Lottery." This mood is generated through Shirley Jackson's...

When "The Lottery" was published in 1948, just three years after the end of World War II, many subscribers to The New Yorker magazine sent letters of outrage and many canceled their subscriptions...

A good thesis statement presents a claim (an interpretive stance on a story that can be defended using textual evidence) and is a position with which someone else could disagree. Concerning...

The ritual of the scapegoat is taken from the Old Testament. Each year on the Day of Atonement, the Hebrews would choose 2 goats: one to be sacrificed to the Lord and one to atone for the people's...

The name Bentham is a possible reference to Jeremy Bentham, an influential British philosopher who advocated the principles of utilitarianism. According to the philosophy of utilitarianism, the...

Imagery refers to language meant to convey sensory experience. It can be visual (sight), auditory (sound), olfactory (smell), tactile (touch), or gustatory (taste). Shirley Jackson uses imagery to...

The lottery is conducted in the town square, where the entire community gathers to participate in the savage tradition. Mr. Summers is the lottery's officiant and begins the ceremony by calling...

"The Lottery" is set in an unnamed village in an unnamed time period. This setting indicates that the events that happen there could happen in any place at any time, making the theme of blindly...

Mr Summers' name has obvious connotations. Summer is associated with warmth and pleasant times. It is a season of celebration, holidays and fun. Ironically, Mr Summers' name is contrasted to a task...

"The Lottery" is written from a third-person point of view with limited scope. This objective perspective allows the reader to experience the lottery as it is happening, which allows suspense to...