American Literature

1. THE LOTTERY
S H I R L E Y J A C K S O N

2. SHIRLEY JACKSON
• 1916 - 1965
• an American writer known for
her works of horror and
mystery
• composed 6 novels, 2
memoirs, and over 200 short
stories
• garnered significant public
attention for the short story
The Lottery

3. SHIRLEY JACKSON
• Her supernatural horror novel,
The Haunting of Hill House,
was also considered to be one
of the best ghost stories ever
written.
• died of heart failure in 1965 at
the age of 48
• cited as an influence to present
authors such as Neil Gaiman
and Stephen King

4. T H E L O T T E R Y
• a short story written by Shirley Jackson
• first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The
New Yorker
• describes a fictional small town which observes an
annual ritual known as the lottery
• described by many as one of the most famous short
stories in the history of American literature

5. T H E L O T T E R Y
• initially received a negative response, which
surprised both Jackson and The New Yorker
• readers cancelled subscriptions and sent hate
mail throughout the summer
• was banned in some states and countries for
some time

6. S U M M A R Y
• The villagers of a small town gather together in the
square on June 27, a beautiful day, for the town
lottery. Children, men, women, and families stand
together.
• Tessie Hutchinson joins the crowd, flustered because
she had forgotten that today was the day of the
lottery.
• She joins her husband and children at the front of the
crowd, and people joke about her late arrival.

7. S U M M A R Y
• Mr. Summers reminds everyone about the lottery’s rules: he’ll
read names, and the family heads come up and draw a slip of
paper. No one should look at the paper until everyone has
drawn.
• Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner that people in the north
village might stop the lottery, and Old Man Warner ridicules
the young people. He says that giving up the lottery could lead
to a return to living in caves.
• Mrs. Adams says the lottery has already been given up in other
villages, and Old Man Warner says that’s “nothing but
trouble.”

8. Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.

9. S U M M A R Y
• The local tradition is practiced to ensure a good harvest. Old
Man Warner quotes an old proverb: "Lottery in June, corn be
heavy soon".
• First, the heads of the extended families draw slips until every
family has a slip. Bill Hutchinson gets the one slip with a black
spot, meaning that his family has been chosen. The second
round would ordinarily be to select one household within the
family.
• The final round is for the individual family members within the
winning household to draw, no matter their age.

11. S U M M A R Y
• Bill's wife, Tessie Hutchinson, gets the slip with a
black dot. After the drawing is over and Tessie is
picked, the slips are allowed to fly off into the
wind.
• In keeping with tradition, each villager obtains a
stone and begins to surround Tessie.
• The story ends as Tessie is stoned to death while
she bemoans the unfairness of the situation.

13. T H E C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F
B L I N D C O N F O R M I T Y

14. 1. Injustice
2. Insincerity
3. Impracticality
T H E C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F
B L I N D C O N F O R M I T Y

15. INJUSTICE
• Violation of others’ rights
• Unjust or unfair action or treatment

16. INJUSTICE
According to Plato in The Republic:
• People will often commit acts of injustice when
they calculate that it is in their interests to do so.
• Human injustice is not always caused by an
attempt to gain unfair advantage or malice; it
may simply be the result of flawed decision-
making.

17. INJUSTICE
The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy
Hutchinson a few pebbles.
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."
Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs.
Graves beside him.
"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then
they were upon her.

18. Two Implications:
1. By blindly following tradition, we inadvertently
commit injustice. It leaves the tradition
unchecked and its detriments unexposed.
2. The longer we blindly follow a tradition, the more
people and generations we put in danger.
INJUSTICE

19. INSINCERITY
• the quality or state of not being
genuine or truthful
• hypocrisy

20. HYPOCRISY
• In moral psychology, it is the failure to follow one's
own expressed moral rules and principles.
• According to British political philosopher David
Runciman, "other kinds of hypocritical deception
include claims to knowledge that one lacks, claims
to a consistency that one cannot sustain, claims to a
loyalty that one does not possess, claims to an
identity that one does not hold".

21. HY POCRI SY
Mrs. Hutchinson craned her neck to see through the crowd and
found her husband and children standing near the front. She tapped
Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way
through the crowd. The people separated good-humoredly to let her
through; 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." Mrs. Hutchinson reached her husband, and
Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully, "Thought we were
going to have to get on without you, Tessie." Mrs. Hutchinson said,
grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you,
Joe?," and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred
back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.

22. HY POCRI SY
Two Implications:
1. If we're just blindly following something, when push
comes to shove, we will not be able to defend or justify
it. We are more likely to abandon it the moment the
tradition no longer works in our favor.
2. Blind conformity makes us insensitive to the experiences
of people harmed by such a tradition. We see the harms
only when we experience them ourselves.

23. IMPRACTICALITY
• Impractical – unwise to implement
or maintain in practice; not suitable
for the situation

24. I MPRAC TI CAL I T Y
• In the field of Research and Development,
impracticality is highly discouraged as it focuses
on innovation, introduction, and improvement of
products and processes.
• In order for processes to improve, old ways
should be replaced with new and more efficient
ones.
• Since our needs continue to evolve, our ways
should also evolve.

25. I MPRAC TI CAL I T Y
"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood
next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of
giving up the lottery."
Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said.
"Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them.
Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in
caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to
be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing
you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.
There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly.

26. I MPRAC TI CAL I T Y
"Some places have already quit lotteries," Mrs.
Adams said.
"Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner
said stoutly. "Pack of young fools."

27. I MPRAC TI CAL I T Y
Two Implications:
1. Blind conformity prevents society
from exploring new ways of doing
things.
2. Consequently, it impedes necessary
progress and development.

28. P OI NTS TO P ONDER
• What tradition(s) do you think you
have been blindly or unconsciously
following?
• Do you understand the value behind
them?
• Should you continue following them?
Why or why not?

29. T H E C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F
B L I N D C O N F O R M I T Y