The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson's The Lottery is a classic American short story known for its shocking twist ending and its insightful commentary on cultural traditions. It was originally printed in The New Yorker magazine in 1948. The tale begins with all the villagers gathering in the town square for the annual lottery (that's not the twist), as if it were just another day. Children play with stones while the adults swap stories of farming and gossip. Its not until the lottery begins, over halfway through the story, that we start to suspect that all is not as it seems. The real key is when the the 'winner', Tessie, declares it isn't fair that she won. It turns out that the stones the children were playing with at the start of the story will be used for a

Schools are out for the summer, so the children are enjoying a break from their studies. The adults, clearly friends and neighbors in the small village, greet each other as they all assemble on the square for the lottery. Beneath the cheerful facade, however, people are serious and focused on the event that is about to take place. Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery and other "civic activities" in the town. He arrives with a black wooden box, followed by Mr. Graves, the postmaster, who is carrying a stool to set the box on. The box is filled with small pieces of paper to be used for the lottery drawing. Mr. Summers asks for help as he randomly mixes the pieces of paper, and Mr. Martin and his son Baxter step forward to assist him. The last person to arrive at the gathering was Tessie Hutchinson. As she makes her way to her husband's side, she jokes that she is late because she doesn't want to leave dirty dishes in her sink. The black box is not the original box used by the town for the lottery, but it is rumored to contain some of the wood from the original. Mr. Summers argues every year that a new box should be

Delacroix and Mrs. Graves tell her to be a good sport, as if it were something less than her life on the line. Even their names Delacroix, meaning of the cross, and Graves foreshadow the fatal twist ahead. Finally, when Tessie's children reveal that they have not been chosen, they both 'beam and laugh', glossing over the fact that it means death for another family member. Although the original purpose of the lottery has been lost over time, it is now used to select a victim to serve as a blood sacrifice. Old Man Warner's recollection that it is meant to produce a bountiful corn crop shows that it is likely a fertility ritual or perhaps a rainmaker. The fact that the community unquestioningly accepts the barbaric practice of sacrificing a member to guarantee a successful harvest indicates that no one is willing to stand alone against the crowd. Jackson uses point of view, symbolism, and diction. The point of view is a third-person objective, also known as camera-view. The symbolism is the black box because it represents tradition, the box also implicitly symbolizes death, lastly she uses specific diction and language in order to convey an ominous tone in her short