senseless, violent tradition and proceed to stone her to death.

An example of an internal conflict takes place when Tessie Hutchinson hesitates to draw her slip of paper. Tessie disagrees with the entire ritual and purposefully hesitates before drawing the slip. Her reluctance to draw the slip of paper and defiant disposition indicates that she is struggling with the decision to select a slip of paper or refuse to participate in the tradition. Her struggle to decide what course of action to take at the critical moment is an example of an internal conflict.

A story must be dramatic in order to be interesting. It must contain conflict in order to be dramatic. "The Lottery" is certainly interesting, so it must be dramatic and must contain conflict--but it is very hard to see how there is any conflict between any of the characters or any institutions. For instance, there is no interaction between Old Man Warner and Tessie Hutchinson. They don't even talk to each other. When Warner does talk he does not sound like a protagonist but like a parrot mindlessly repeating what he heard others saying long ago.

I suggest that the main conflict in the story is between abstract principles and not between characters. The conflict might be described as past versus present, tradition versus enlightenment, superstition versus reason, or ignorance versus truth. The protagonist in this conflict would be the past, or tradition, or superstition, or ignorance. The antagonist would be the simple truth, including the truth that human sacrifice doesn't make the corn grow.

The people in the story are present because it is obligatory. The man in charge of the drawing is anxious to get it over with so that everyone can return to the normal business of living. Something is forcing all of them to participate in this deadly lottery even though each privately dreads being chosen and probably dreads the guilt he or she will have to live with for a long time after the stoning. The antagonist would be the slow progress of understanding which is destined to win in the end. Two of the characters remark that lotteries such as this are being given up in neighboring communities. They are the voices of reason. When the Hutchinson family is chosen, a girl in the crowd is heard to whisper, "I hope it isn't Nancy." Hers is the voice of human compassion. And finally when Tessie gets the fatal black spot, she voices the plain and obvious truth.

"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

For the time being, the protagonist--superstition, tradition, ignorance--is still in command.

The central conflict in "The Lottery" is Individual vs. Society, showing the individual's struggle against collectively accepted norms. Tessie Hutchinson refuses to accept that her family, and then she herself, has been chosen for the Lottery, but her protests are ignored and overpowered by the collective assurance of the ritual's acceptance.

Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head.

Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone."
(Jackson, "The Lottery," classicshorts.com)

Old Man Warner represents Society, the purpose which is condoned by the village as normal and even virtuous. Tessie represents Man, the individual who fights against norms but, in this case, is destroyed by them. Her fight comes from a selfish, personal desire for her family to be spared by the Lottery; since the society of the village expects every member to be equally invested in the outcome, her rebellion is quickly put down. The outcome of the story shows that Society, in this case, is victorious, and there is no sign that the Individual has had much effect on other opinions.

As other commenters have noted, Tessie Hutchinson emerges as the protagonist of the story by the end, but the protagonist really could have been any one of the townspeople.  They are all, even Tessie, complicit with the lottery initially, and it isn't until Tessie pulls the marked paper that she objects to the tradition.  However nervous people feel, and despite the fact that other towns have done away with the practice, no one says anything about giving up the lottery here.  It's as though everyone is willing to take their chances because they know that odds are in their favor; there is such a small chance of being chosen.  Therefore, no one speaks up, before the lottery, to point out the unfairness of the practice whose origins they cannot even recall, Tessie included.

Likewise, the antagonist is society at large, but it is important to note that Tessie would have been part of this group had it not been her who was chosen.  She was all too happy to conform, making jokes about leaving her dishes and bossing her husband, until her number comes up.  The conflict is revealed to be one of character (Tessie) vs. society (everyone but Tessie) as a result of the fact that no one speaks up about the injustice of the lottery until it is too late for that one person who now begs everyone else to join her.

The protagonist is the most prominent, or central, character in a story. The protagonist of the short story "The Lottery" is Tessie, but she is a representative of the whole village. All the villagers, just like Tessie, are equally bound to, and affected by, the lottery. They all have the same chance as Tessie of being picked as "winners," which entails that each villager lives, albeit obliviously, with the terrifying thought of death in the back of their minds.

While Tessie is the selected villager in this particular celebration of the lottery, the reality is that it could have been any of them, by rule of probability. Therefore, the whole village is truly the protagonist of the story but, in this particular version of the lottery, the protagonist would be Tessie because she stands out even further by being the selected one to die.

This being said, the antagonist is the opponent of the protagonist. It is the person, place, force of nature, spiritual intervention, or thing that prevents the protagonist from accomplishing his or her purpose in the story.

From the very moment that Tess enters the story, she has had a problem with the lottery being conducted. She was doing her dishes, and had to stop her duties as a housewife, because of the lottery.

"Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you. Joe?,

When her family is picked, she realizes that the end is coming.

When her name is finally pulled, she knows her death is impending. Therefore, the fact that the lottery brings death, and thus the end to all the purpose of anyone who is selected, makes it the antagonist of the story.

The question of who the antagonist is in "The Lottery" really depends on who or what you identify as the protagonist. A protagonist is typically the main character of a story, one who faces some sort of conflict. The antagonist is usually the source of the main conflict that the protagonist faces.

There isn't one character that the plot exclusively focuses on for the duration of the story, but some readers would say that Tessie Hutchinson is the protagonist because she is the character who faces the greatest conflict. If you identify Tessie as the protagonist, then it is likely that you'd see the rest of the town, collectively, as the antagonist. They are the ones who are in agreement that she must die. They pick up the stones, even providing a few small ones to her young child, to end Tessie's life.

One could also say, however, that the entire village is the protagonist since the story doesn't focus exclusively on Tessie. Instead, we read about how many different townspeople blindly agree to follow the rules of this lottery. If the townspeople collectively act as the protagonist, then the lottery itself—and, more broadly—tradition is the force working against them and serving as a source of conflict. When the lottery begins, any one of them could be selected to die or be forced to help kill a family member or friend. Thus, one could argue that the entire town is victimized and that the tradition of the lottery is the source of their conflict and suffering.

You could make a strong case for either of these options of antagonist, depending on your choice of protagonist.

The women seem quite old-fashioned. One could imagine them all wearing ankle-length gingham dresses and sunbonnets. This is a patriarchal society, as we can see just from the way the lottery is conducted, with the men running the lottery and the men doing the drawings for the households. The females only draw when a household has been selected on the first round. Then each member of that household draws to see who gets the black spot. The other members of that household will join the rest of the townsfolk in stoning that individual to death. The women all appear to be housewives and many of them mothers. The young girls are meek and modest. They will all grow up to be housewives and mothers too. None of the women object to their subordinate condition. It has never occurred to them that a society could function any other way. An example of the prevailing female modesty and subservience is to be seen when a woman is compelled to draw for her husband, who is laid up at home with a broken leg. Mr. Summers asks:

"Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally. Mr. Summers waited with an expression of polite interest while Mrs. Dunbar answered.

"Horace's not but sixteen yet." Mrs. Dunbar said regretfully. "Guess I gotta fill in for the old man this year."

She is "regretful." She feels awkward and self-conscious because she does not like being the center of attention even for a few moments. And she does not think it is appropriate for her to be doing a "man's job." 

The only time a woman speaks out with emotion and conviction is when Tessie Hutchinson draws the black spot.

"It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head...."It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

The black box and the lottery itself would be main characters. What if we considered this a bit more abstractly? The lottery and the black box are the protagonists. They are carrying out the role that they have been established to fulfill. Tessie Hutchinson, on the other hand, is the antagonist because she tries to thwart the "natural" process. She even attempts to sacrifice others instead of herself.

What a fascinating discussion of a great piece of literature. Who is the main character? Perhaps a better question would be to ask who is the protagonist and who or what is the antagonist in this story. I would have to say that Tessie Hutchinson is the main character. Jackson spends some time on her when she draws attention to Tessie being late through her comments and the comments of other characters. She also says a lot about Tessie’s character when Tessie seems willing to through her oldest daughter into the pool in order to save herself. Tessie also has some behaviors and mannerisms that come out in the story as well. Do we want Tessie to die? No, so she would perhaps be the protagonist. The antagonist, however, could be the lottery itself which is shown to be archaic through the discussion of the old man and comments made about other towns. The black box could also be considered an antagonist as it delivers the official marked ballot to Tessie. Both of these elements work against Tessie’s primary purpose which is to live.

In my mind, the community is the main character of the short story.  The idea that the lottery is accepted practice in the social order, where an individual has to be targeted is something that occupies the greatest importance, in my mind.  It is always an element that resonates within me:  The notion of the terror of the community becoming standardized practice is a horrifying one, and an element that occupies a great deal of importance upon reading the work.

I agree with the previous posts--fascinating discussion, really!  I would go with Tessie as main character, however.  She does change throughout the story, and I find it particularly moving that her son is the first to cast stones at her.

While the box and the lottery are great candidates for main character (and they do both dominate the actions and reactions), they do not grow or change in any way.  At the end of the story, the black box is still ragged, faded, and neglected from years of use.  The lottery, despite the "talk" of rejection or alteration from the townspeople, does not change with Tessie's death.  We as readers expect it to be back in full force with the next spring crop.

I agree with the previous posts, but I must also argue for the black box as a main character.  Jackson spends little time describing the people of the village, making it out to be stereotypically small-town America.  The one thing she dedicates serious detail to is the black box, describing its details and history in its very own paragraph.  She also shares how the villagers react to it: with the apperance of the box the crowd hushes and few men want to be near it, creating the tension between characters and throughout the story.  

Also, the black box is symbolic of the tradition and stability of the town itself, as well as representing something more mysteriously sinister.  However, the form of the box is not so important as its actual existence.  Each character must encounter the box at some point and thus every character has a personal relationship with it.  The lottery itself is a silent guest that visits the town yearly, but the box remains as the embodiment of the brutality of the townspeople.     

I like the idea of the lottery as the main character in the story, but I cannot resist nominating Tessie Hutchinson for the part.  While it is true that all of the characters participate seemingly voluntarily in the lottery process, Tessie is a singularly unattractive character.  We do not know how other "winners" have behaved in past years, but Tessie's character is revealed when we see her willing to sacrifice another family member to save herself.  How many of us with children would suggest that our married children become part of the same "pool" to reduce our chances of being picked for the kill?  She is not the Mother of the Year.  Sometimes I suspect Shirley Jackson made Tessie particularly loathsome, so we wouldn't feel quite as bad about her demise. 

The lottery itself is the main character.  All of the story's conflict revolves around the town's tradition of carrying out the lottery, and the townspeople would not have tension between themselves it it were not for the lottery.

You could argue that tradition is the main character because that is what the lottery represents.  The townspeople are controlled by the lottery and follow its tradition mindlessly.

Another argument for the lottery as the protagonist is that it is the only developed "character."  Jackson does not give much detail about individual characters other than gender stereotypes (with the boys and girls at the story's beginning), and brief descriptions of the families.  In contrast, Jackson devotes quite a bit of detail to the lottery, from the black box and its condition to the process of the event.  Although it is a static character, the lottery's influence over the town dominates all other "characters."

I would say that the three main characters in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" are Old Man Warner, Tessie Hutchinson, and Mr. Summers.  

I'm not 100% clear on what you mean by "perspective."  The story itself is written in the third person perspective, so nothing changes there between the three characters.  I think that you might mean their "perspective" (opinion) on the process of the lottery.  

Among the three main characters, their attitude toward the lottery varies quite a bit.  Tessie Hutchinson is not in favor of the lottery.  In fact, she thinks that this particular year's lottery wasn't fair because her husband wasn't there to draw a paper.  

"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her." 

That's the last line of the story, but Mrs. Hutchinson says the "it wasn't fair" line 4 other times.  She repeats it like a mantra.  

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Old Man Warner.  He sees no problems with the lottery.  In fact, he sees it as a good thing.  When he is told that other towns have stopped the lottery or are considering stopping it, he dismisses those ideas as ridiculous.  

"Some places have already quit lotteries." Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools."

Mr. Summers's perspective exists in between the opinions of Old Man Warner and Mrs. Hutchinson.  I would say that Mr. Summers is ambivalent toward the proceedings.  He is in charge of the drawing.  His name isn't in the mix.  He exists simply to make sure that the event runs smoothly and enforce the rules.  

One of the most interesting aspects of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is the time period in which it was written. Published in 1948, just three years after the end of World War II and the discovery of the Nazi death camps, "The Lottery" touches on the idea that otherwise kind and friendly people could do something horrific to innocent people, who, in retrospect, are scapegoats for these people's problems. For Hitler and Germany, the Jewish people were the scapegoats, and in this story, Tessie Hutchinson serves a similar purpose.

The actual lottery in Jackson's story clearly has something to do with agricultural problems in this small village, as Old Man Warner says, "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." The villagers, obviously afraid of offending their gods or nature, find it necessary to commit the ultimate evil by murdering an innocent woman in the hopes that this sacrifice will yield a good crop.

Overall, Jackson's story is a commentary on the evils the masses will commit if they believe their lives are endangered. In 1930s Germany, Hitler and his regime trumped up a bunch of phony allegations about Jews causing that nation's economic problems, which led to Kristallnacht, the destruction of Jewish-owned businesses, and then to the Jewish concentration camps. In "The Lottery," the people in this village obviously feel their lives are at risk without a bountiful harvest and, in this year's lottery, scapegoat Tessie.

A scapegoat is a word that comes from the Bible. In order to symbolically get rid of the sins of the Israelites, a goat was selected and all of the sins of the community were transferred to that goat, who was left to wander in the wilderness, so that the Israelites could remain pure and unblemished, enabling them to stand before God as holy and sinless.

In this chilling short story, the reader comes to understand by the end of the tale that this community every year uses the lottery to select a scapegoat from amongst them as a kind of blood sacrifice to ensure that they will have a good harvest. Note what Old Man Warner says about the traditions associated with the lottery:

Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.'

The saying of Old Man Warner clearly links the human sacrifice of one of the villagers with a blood offering meant to appease the gods to ensure a good harvest. In this story, therefore, the scapegoat is the woman who is selected to die: Tess Hutchinson.

To look for who is telling a story, you are looking to determine the story's point of view.  Point of view can be first ( when the speaker uses I or me), second ( the rarest point of view that uses you), and third (when the narrator uses he, she or they) to tell the story.  Third person narration allows for an outside voice to tell what is going on with the characters because the narrator is not actually a character in the text, but an outsider explaining the events that unfold.

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," we see third person narration at work.  Since our narrator is not a member of the town (and their barbaric actions) the third person narration allows the reader to have an objective voice delivering the story without bias or emotion.

Soon the men began to gather. surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women, wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.

This passage shows our third person narrator explaining the men getting ready for the lottery.  With detail, the narrator explains the members of the town as the begin to gather: what they are wearing and how they are interacting.  You can see here that the narrator does not refer to him or herself, just the members of the town- a trait of the third person narration.

Many times throughout Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" a "voice" is heard. Depending upon who the voice is determines who the voice is speaking.

Two or three people said. in voices just loud enough to be heard across the crowd, "Here comes your, Missus, Hutchinson," and "Bill, she made it after all."

In this example, the voices heard are random people throughout the crowd speaking to Bill Hutchinson. Tessie, his wife, is late getting to the lottery because she was washing dishes and "clean forgot what day it was."

Several voices in the crowd said things like "Good fellow, lack." and "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it."

Here, again, random voices in the crowd are speaking. All of the voices here are talking to the Watson boy. While not head of the household, the Watson boy must draw given his father is not there and it is only the Watson boy and his mother left in their family.

"Here," a voice said. and Mr. Summers nodded.

In this example, the voice belongs to Old Man Warner. Mr. Summers has asked if Old Man Warner had made it to the lottery. The voice is that of Old Man Warner stating that he had, in fact, made it to the lottery to draw.

Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson's got it."

In this example, many voices are speaking. Bill Hutchinson has just opened his paper and found the black dot. People around him saw the dot and are acknowledging the fact that he held the dot in his hands. Therefore, the voices, here, are talking to everyone else in the crowd to let them know who has the black dot.

The juxtaposition of characters, within Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," is subjective. What this means is that it is up to the individual reader to define characters as juxtaposed (contrasted or set side-by-side, so as to compare or contrast). Subjective refers to the idea that each reader defines a character based upon their own ideas and justifications.

That said, a few examples of characters which can be identified as juxtaposed are as follows.

Tessie and Mrs. Delacroix

Tessie is late to the lottery. Mrs. Delacroix, on the other hand, is on time. While it may seem in-coincidental at the time, Tessie is the one who "wins" the lottery. One could consider her lateness as foreshadowing.

Tessie and Bill

Bill openly accepts the fate of his family and wife. Unlike Bill, Tessie argues her family's "win" and her "win." Bill readily accepts the lottery as concrete; whereas, Tessie argues that it was not fair.

Tessie and Little Dave

Here, Tessie represents the matriarch of the family, the older woman. Little Dave, on the other hand, represents the youth and future of the Hutchinson family.

Mr. Adams and Tessie

When examining the text from a religious perspective, Mr. Adams represents the biblical Adam and Tessie represents Eve. This juxtaposition speaks to the earliest sin. The villagers, regardless of the tradition, commit murder (which is a sin).

While Tessie Hutcherson, the eventual victim, is late to the lottery, the only character not in attendance is Clyde Dunbar, who broke his leg.

Shirley Jackson seems to include this detail to explain about the "traditional" values held in this village. There is an interesting exchange that explains much about these values. Mr. Summers, the man who conducts the lottery, seems a bit bothered by the fact that Janey Dunbar was going to draw for her husband. He asks, "Don't you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?" 

The narrator excuses this as a formality ("Although Mr. Summers and everyone else in the village knew the answer perfectly well, it was the business of the official of the lottery to ask such questions formally."), but the patriarchy in this village is evident as the next person to draw is the eldest son of Ms. Watson. Mr. Summers responds to the tall boy by saying, "Glad to see your mother's got a man to do it."

It's important to remember that in a story as spare as "The Lottery" each detail is important. This seemingly throwaway detail allows the reader to understand much more about the village where this story is set. Perhaps, like the lottery itself, Jackson includes this seemingly unimportant detail to comment on traditional values, like patriarchy.

I will refer you to the link below to get a list of all of the characters, and a full description of them. I will, however, give you a brief run-down of them.

Mr. and Mrs. Adams are one of the few couples who question the lottery.

Mrs. Delacroix is a pleasant, friendly woman at the beginning of the story, but she tries to pick up a huge stone to throw at Tessie.

Mrs. Dunbar is the only woman who must draw for her family because her husband is home with a broken leg, reflecting the patriarchal (male-controlled) society. She doesn't want to participate in Tessie's stoning.

Mr. Graves is the postmaster, the second most powerful official in the community, representing the tradition of keeping things as they are. His wife accepts the lottery and is at the front when the stoning begins.

Bill Hutchinson's wife, Tessie, is selected to be sacrificed. Bill accepts this without question.

Tessie Hutchinson is the mother of four who "wins" the lottery and is stoned to death. Her last words are how unfair the lottery is.

Mr. Martin, a grocer, holds the lottery box while the slips are drawn.

Joe Summers is the village's most powerful and wealthy man and the administrator of the lottery. He keeps saying how important it is to keep the tradition of the lottery.
Old Man Warner is the oldest man in the village who has survived the lottery seventy-seven times. He feels it's necessary for the survival of the village.

Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" is included in Points of View: An Anthology of Short Stories, edited by James Moffett and Kenneth R.McElheny. In that excellent book "The Lottery" is classified as "Anonymous Narration--No Character Point of View." There is no major character in the story. The closest any character comes to qualifying as a major character would be Tessie Hutchinson. Not only is she revealed as this year's victim, but we readers can understand her growing feelings of apprehension and final terror as, first, her family of five-her husband, daughter Nancy, son Bill Jr., little Dave, and herself--become the focus of attention and curiosity, and then when the all the members of her family show that the slips they have drawn are blank.

She starts protesting when her husband draws the slip that means doom for herself or one of her family.

"You didn't give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"

Then she tries to have "Don and Eva" included with her family. Evidently Eva is a her older daughter who is married and whose name would no longer be Hutchinson. Tessie Hutchinson is being characterized as selfish and cowardly. We readers do not yet know what the "winner" wins in this weird lottery, but we have a pretty strong premonition by now that the prize is death.

Tessie continues to protest, but nobody will listen. One by one, her three children and her husband open their papers and show they are blank.

Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it.

No other character gets as much attention as Tessie Hutchinson. This seems appropriate since the story is about a person who is stoned to death. Tessie dies still protesting.

"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

In many short stories, it is fairly easy to identify the protagonist or protagonists, and it is also often easy to identify the antagonist or antagonists. In most cases, the roles played by the characters are realized, or at least suspected, relatively early in the rising action. The issue of who is the protagonist and who, or what, is the antagonist in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is interesting because who or what fulfills those roles is not fully revealed until the climax.

As the story develops, several named characters are introduced to the reader, as is custom in literary works. What is not clear during much of the rising action, however, is which of these characters will fulfill the protagonist role. It is not until the conclusion of the town lottery that it becomes fully clear that Tess Hutchinson is the focal point of the climax of the story. It is as if no protagonist existed—just potential protagonists—until one was chosen by the lottery. At that point, Tess becomes the protagonist.

In the same vein, the role of antagonist is not realized until the climax of the story. Even then, it is not definitive whether the townspeople themselves, including Tess’s family, become collectively the antagonists or custom (the lottery) is the antagonist and the townspeople are merely an instrument. One way to conceptualize it is that custom is the primary antagonist, but that the townspeople serve in the role of accomplices to that antagonist.

If we look at this story carefully, we can see the human sacrifice that is so chillingly presents to us is based on the belief that a blood sacrifice is necessary to appease the various gods so that they forget the sins of the community and grant the village a good and bountiful sacrifice. Note what Old Man Warner says as he comments upon the proceedings as each family head takes a bit of paper from the ballot box:

Used to be a saying about "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon."

The saying that Old Man Warner remembers clearly relates the lottery and the act of communal killing to a successful harvest. In this story then, one member of the community is selected as being the scapegoat for the rest, the metaphorical person on whom is placed the sins of the community. This person is punished accordingly with being killed by that community so that the blood sacrifice can have its potent effect and bring the village its rich harvest.

"The Lottery" is not a story that is primarily concerned with character. Theme and plot are of far more importance. The characters are flat, and their main function is to voice a range of attitudes toward the lottery as an institution. The most striking point is that this range is relatively narrow: none of the characters opposes the lottery absolutely. They range from Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who discuss other communities giving up the lottery in relatively open-minded terms, to Old Man Warner, who is convinced that the village will be ruined if the lottery were abandoned.

Tessie Hutchinson is portrayed as a simple, commonplace, selfish personality. Her objection to the lottery, with her perception of its injustice, begins only when she realizes that she is to be the victim. Initially, she is indistinguishable from the other villagers in her attitudes.

Other characters derive a small degree of individuality from their roles in the community and the lottery in particular. This is especially true of Mr. Summers, who fulfils the stereotype of the man who is central to the community, organizing events and chairing committees, largely because his private life is unsatisfactory.

Tessie Hutchinson is the story's protagonist, though this does not become clear until the story's conclusion. The reader first notices her as a housewife who is late to the gathering for the drawing. It is clear that she will become important because so many people take note of her arrival and because of the exchange she has with Mrs. Delacroix, whom she bids farewell with a tap on the arm as she moves to join her family.

When the Hutchinson family's name is drawn, they become the focus of the village's attention and could be considered, as a group, the story's protagonists. Tessie's panic is immediate, and she begins to try to negotiate, asking that her married daughter's family be included and protesting that her husband was hurried as he drew for them. She is reminded of the rules, and Mr. Hutchinson accepts that someone in their family will be the chosen one.

Tessie is set upon by the villagers at the end, and as the lottery's victim, she becomes the main figure of the story at its conclusion.