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How Is Tessie Hutchinson A Scapegoat In The Lottery

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In the 1948 short story, The Lottery written by Shirley Jackson, the average citizens of the traditional village gathered in the town square to take part in the yearly “lottery.” To insure a great harvest, the citizens of the village drew slips of paper from the black, wooden box to accompany Tessie Hutchinson’s blood shed on the ground after her stoning from the normal citizens in the village on the gloom June 27th. Tessie Hutchinson was murdered by her community as she became the scapegoat for the harvest to bear plenty, but this is not the ending a reader was expecting. As the short story continued on, the citizens’ actions hinted at the twisted conclusion to display how the nature of scapegoatism, occurs “when an individual or group selects …show more content…

Every person within the village seemed to have a reason to be involved in the traditional scapgoatism, including the scapegoat herself, Tessie Hutchinson. After being chosen as the dreaded lottery winner, Tessie Hutchinson’s envy caused her to willing sacrifice her own daughter and son-in-law in place of herself as she yelled “make them take their chance!” disregarding they were her relatives and had their own family. As Ghadiali H. N. of Stafford stated in ‘The process of Scapegoating.’ The Midland Journal of Psychotherapy, No. 1, “Scapegoating is a frequently occurring social phenomenon which takes place in natural groups, therapeutic groups, families, and in society at large,” and Mrs. Hutchinson displayed the phenomenon as she begged for her own …show more content…

After Mr. Adams conversed to Old Man Warner about “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery,” the older man responded how the lottery was needed for a great harvest. Instead of noticing how the lottery was outdated, Old Man Warner dismissed how a person among the gathered group is drawing their death slip in hopes of ensuring a grand harvest for those who remain in the village, however he encourage this ritual calling those villages who have ended the brutal ritual a “pack of young fools.” The yearly lottery numbed Old Man Warner’s emotions towards his fellow members in the village. As Nancy was called to draw by Mr. Summers, her school friends whispered among themselves hoping it they would not have to stone their friend they just finished the school with, but Old Man Warner responded with how “people aren’t the way they used to be.” Warner clearly stated his response to the young girls to call younger people of the village and surrounding villages undeserving of being chosen to be the scapegoat for the village’s harvest. When Old Man Warner was younger, it can be inferred it was a honor to be chosen, but as generations went on, they understood the wrong in the lottery, as to why some villages ceased the annual drawing, while others continued to partake in the

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The citizens of the small town eventually come back for the pulling of the ballots, some are happy and some are not. There were a couple distinct characters, one being the Old Man Warner stuck in his old ways. In contrast, the young adults tended to view this lottery as “not correct” due to many other towns

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In Shirley Jackson's short story, “The Lottery”, she uses Tessie Hutchinson as a symbol to convey her theme of society’s labels and expectations. For instance, as the community surrounded Tessie Hutchinson with stones in their hands, she shrieks, “It isn't fair, it isn't right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screams, and they were upon her,”(329-330). This connects to the story of Malala because she spoke up for all children's rights to get the education she feels they deserve, but there were people who did not accept her ideas as a woman so they attempted to shoot and kill her. Furthermore, when the men of each household drew a ticket out of the black box, then Tessie is revealed that she and her family was chosen, she attempts to stand up for herself by

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However, they both felt they where right in the stands they took , which changed the way they viewed the world. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, their was a village that had a tradition of killing the person who won The Lottery. Tessie Hutchinson was how ever the person who won and that means she would be stoned to death by the people in her village. In the text “A stone hit her on the head”.

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“The Lottery” Interpretive Essay “The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts of with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers, the official, holds the lottery. After that, every family draws out of an old black box, and a certain family gets picked. Out of the certain family, one person gets picked as the unlucky “winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery.

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“The Lottery” is an realism/horror story written by Shirley Jackson. The story is about some villagers of a small New England town who follow the tradition of making a lottery every year. When it comes, they like to celebrate it with the correct rules and the correct objects so they can feel more comfortable. Everyone need to take a slip of paper from a small black box, and the paper with a black dot in it means that the family is the winner, then they raffle again; Bill Hutchinson, who was the husband of the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson picked a paper with a black dot in it, that meant that Tessie was the winner of the lottery, then she starts complaining because the drawing was not conducted properly. At the end, the townspeople moved off to a cleared spot outside the town and they begin stoning her to death (Jackson).

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The purpose of the lottery is to continue the old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order for a harvest. The scapegoat is chosen at random and then stoned to death by his/her companions. Although “The Lottery” reflects an event from the past, Jackson shows that many of the actions of the town resemble the tribulations that ensue in today’s society. To begin with, like the villagers in the story, our society also partakes in valuing tradition.

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When the twelve year old Nancy “[goes] forward switching her skirt, [taking] a slip daintily from the box,” the audience is struck by her innocence, making the subsequent death of her mother via the lottery outcome even more terrible and tragic. A still more effective example of Jackson’s appeals to pathos occurs at the end of the story, where “someone [gives] little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles” to join the crowd in stoning his mother. This moment is incredibly poignant and elevates the disgust and pity that the audience feels as the nature of the lottery is revealed. Little Davy is too young understand what is happening, and it is reasonable to assume that the rest of the characters have long since lost touch with the purpose of the lottery, as the only explanation the audience is given for its continuation is Warner’s statement that “there’s always been a lottery.” This remarkably insufficient excuse in support of such a heinous crime secures the sympathy of the audience towards not only Tessie’s plight but also Jackson’s argument.

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Adam’s and Old Man Warner’s discussion about the idea of giving up the lottery. Old Man Warner states that “there’s always been a lottery” (Jackson 142). The inference of Old Man Warner’s words and tone suggests that there will always be a lottery, and that it should always remain, that it is wrong to question its existence. Given the violent nature of the lottery’s results and its enduring tradition throughout generations of participants, each succeeding generation obviously grows accustom to the violence and brutality it calls for. The children, for example, readily prepare for the occasion by amassing “a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and [guarding] it” (Jackson 139).

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The tradition of the lottery has been carried out for so long in this village that nobody even knows the reason for its occurring in the first place and nobody questions it. When Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village, is told about other villages giving up the tradition of the lottery, he says that they are, “[A] pack of crazy fools [...]. There [has] always been a lottery [...]” (Jackson, 4). There is no reason why there has always been a lottery except that every year on June 27th, they held the lottery.

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“The Lottery”, a short story by Shirley Jackson, is about a lottery that takes place in a small village. The story starts off with the whole town gathering in the town square, where Mr. Summers holds the lottery. Once everyone gathers, every family draws a slip of paper out of an old black box, and the family with the black mark on their paper gets picked. After that, each family member older than 3 years of age re-draws a slip of paper again and this time, the person with the black mark on their paper gets picked as the “lucky winner” of the lottery. In this short story, after the Hutchinson family gets drawn, Tessie Hutchinson is declared “winner” of the lottery, with her reward is being stoned to death.

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Unhindered and celebrated annually, the Lottery has long been ingrained in the village society as a normal way of life. Moreover, the entirety of the village murder Mrs. Hutchinson for the sole reason of practicing a tradition. Lastly, the villagers have flagrantly forgotten about parts of the lottery, not realizing what has changed. Using the utensil of the short story, Shirley Jackson was able to criticize those who blindly accepted their traditions and

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The villagers are reluctant to give up their beliefs because they think that they might lose their distinction that separates them from others. Old Man Warner strongly disapproves of people who want to quit the lottery. He says, “There’s always been a lottery”3 so for him, these people are “crazy.”4 However, for the readers, his reluctance means that he is afraid to change his place within the society. He has gained the title of Old Man not only because he is the oldest man in the village but he has also been in the lottery for 77 years.

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