A Summary Of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

The short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson. The Lottery is about people from a small town that gather together in the square in June. In this village, there are only 300 people. Therefore, unlike most towns, the lottery only takes a few hours. The children in the town collect stones, rocks, and small pebbles and put them in a pile in the corner of the square. All the families come together when Mr. Summers, the man who runs the lottery, calls. Mr. Summers carries a black box filled with slips of paper to the center and places it on a stool. Mr. Summers repeats the rules of the lottery to everyone before he begins. He calls the name of the family and the man of the household comes up and chooses a slip. Once all the names are called and everyone has got a slip, Mr. Summers tells everyone to open the piece of paper. Whoever has the slip with the black dot

Word quickly travels that Bill Hutchinson 's family got the slip. Tessie Hutchinson argues, saying the lottery wasn’t fair. The Hutchinson family goes to the center and five slips are put in the box. A slip for each member of the family. Bill, Tessie, and their three kids pick a piece of paper and open it at once. Tessie has the paper with the dot. Once again Tessie argues that the lottery isn’t fair. Everyone slowly steps away from Tessie. People pick up the stones and pebbles and get closer to Tessie. They all start to throw the rocks at her as Tessie is screaming.

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” incorporates a variation of symbols such as the date and the stool to connect the history and religious aspects. “Many prehistoric rituals took place on the summer solstice” (“The Lottery”). Jackson sets the story on “the morning of June