2. About the Author
• Shirley Jackson was born on December 14, 1916, in
San Francisco, California.
• Her parents were Leslie Jackson and Geraldine
Jackson.
• Her siblings were Barry Sampson Jackson, Laurence
Hyman Jackson, Geraldine Jackson and Ruth Jackson
Weinstein.
• Later on, her family moved to Rochester, New York.
• Transferred to Syracuse University, where she
graduated in 1940 with a degree in English.
3. About the Author
• In 1940, she married Stanley Edgar Hyman, a
prominent literary critic and professor.
• Four children: Laurence Jackson Hyman, Joanne
Ruth Hyman, Sarah Hyman Stewart, and Barry Michael
Hyman.
• Writing career began in the late 1930s when she
started publishing short stories in various magazines
and journals.
4. About the Author
• Shirley Jackson is widely regarded as one of the
most important writers of 20th-century American
literature.
• She was an author, a writer and a feminist.
• Notable works include “The Haunting of Hill House”
(1959), “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (1962)
and “The Lottery”, which are considered classics of
the horror genre.
5. About the Author
• Themes: isolation, identity, societal norms and the
darker aspects of human nature.
• “The Lottery” was first published in The New Yorker
magazine on June 26, 1948.
• In her later years, she struggled with health issues,
including weight problems and agoraphobia.
• She passed away on August 8, 1965, at the age of
48, leaving behind a rich literary legacy.
6. Characters:
• Tessie Hutchinson - the protagonist of the story.
• Bill Hutchinson - Tessie’s husband.
• Mr. Joe Summers - the official who conducts the lottery. Oversees the
proceedings and ensures that the lottery is carried out according to tradition.
• Mr. Harry Graves - postmaster, helped Mr. Summers with the lottery.
• Mr. Martin and Baxter - held the black box when Mr. Summers stirred the papers.
• Old Man Warner - the oldest member of the community.
• The Villagers - consist of various villagers who participate in the lottery.
• Children - portrayed as playing innocently in the background.
7. Summary:
The villagers of a small town gather together in the square on June 27, a beautiful day, for the town
lottery. In other towns, the lottery takes longer, but there are only 300 people in this village, so the
lottery takes only two hours. Village children, who have just finished school for the summer, run around
collecting stones. They put the stones in their pockets and make a pile in the square. Men gather next,
followed by the women. Parents call their children over, and families stand together.
Mr. Summers runs the lottery because he has a lot of time to do things for the village. He arrives in the
square with the black box, followed by Mr. Graves, the postmaster. This black box isn’t the original box
used for the lottery because the original was lost many years ago, even before the town elder, Old Man
Warner, was born. Mr. Summers always suggests that they make a new box because the current one
is shabby, but no one wants to fool around with tradition. Mr. Summers did, however, convince the
villagers to replace the traditional wood chips with slips of paper.
Mr. Summers mixes up the slips of paper in the box. He and Mr. Graves made the papers the night
before and then locked up the box at Mr. Summers’s coal company. Before the lottery can begin, they
make a list of all the families and households in the village. Mr. Summers is sworn in. Some people
remember that in the past there used to be a song and salute, but these have been lost.
8. Summary:
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. Mr. Summers asks whether anyone is absent, and the crowd responds that Dunbar isn’t there.
Mr. Summers asks who will draw for Dunbar, and Mrs. Dunbar says she will because she doesn’t have a
son who’s old enough to do it for her. Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw, and he
answers that he will. Mr. Summers then asks to make sure that Old Man Warner is there too.
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. He calls all the
names, greeting each person as they come up to draw a paper. Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner that
people in the north village might stop the lottery, and Old Man Warner ridicules 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.”
9. Summary:
Mr. Summers finishes calling names, and everyone opens his or her papers. Word quickly gets around that Bill
Hutchinson has “got it.” Tessie argues that it wasn’t fair because Bill didn’t have enough time to select a paper.
Mr. Summers asks whether there are any other households in the Hutchinson family, and Bill says no,
because his married daughter draws with her husband’s family. Mr. Summers asks how many kids Bill has,
and he answers that he has three. Tessie protests again that the lottery wasn’t fair.
Mr. Graves dumps the papers out of the box onto the ground and then puts five papers in for the Hutchinsons.
As Mr. Summers calls their names, each member of the family comes up and draws a paper. When they open
their slips, they find that Tessie has drawn the paper with the black dot on it. Mr. Summers instructs everyone
to hurry up.
The villagers grab stones and run toward Tessie, who stands in a clearing in the middle of the crowd. Tessie
says it’s not fair and is hit in the head with a stone. Everyone begins throwing stones at her.
10. Setting:
Takes place in a town square of a small, unnamed
village on a sunny summer day in June 27.
(Happens annually for more than 77 years.)
11. Style and language:
• Simple and Descriptive- Jackson’s writing style is straightforward and unadorned.
• Subtle and Ambiguous-Jackson employs subtle hints and foreshadowing throughout
the story, creating a sense of unease and tension that builds gradually as the narrative
unfolds.
• Suspenseful and Foreboding- Through her careful pacing and use of suspenseful
elements, Jackson keeps readers on edge from the beginning of the story
• Everyday Dialogue- The dialogue in “The Lottery” reflects the everyday speech patterns
of the characters, adding authenticity to their interactions
• Ironic and Satirical- Jackson employs irony and satire to critique societal norms and
human behavior.
13. Symbolisms:
• Lottery - reflects the arbitrary nature of fate and the randomness of life’s outcomes.
• Black Box - represents the tradition of the lottery and the unchanging nature of societal
rituals.
• Stones - symbolize the collective participation in violence and the communal responsibility for
the outcome of the lottery.
• The Slip of Paper - symbolizes fate and the randomness of life’s outcomes.
• The Stool - symbolizes the solemnity and seriousness of the lottery ritual.
• Tessie Hutchinson - represents the sacrificial victim chosen by society, highlighting the
arbitrary and unjust nature of the lottery.
• Mr. Harry Graves - represents the death that awaits the victims of the lottery.
• Old Man Warner - serves as a voice of authority and reinforces the importance of the lottery
in maintaining social order.
15. Credits
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