The Lottery Notes
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Transcript The Lottery Notes
“The
Lottery”
Shirley Jackson
Tradition
“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”
(528-529).
◦ The stoning was a sacrifice made for good
crops
◦ Sacrifice goes back to ancient times (Aztecs,
Incas, Mayans)
Blood is vital to human life, a life-giving source
◦ Stoning goes back to Biblical times
Tradition
The villagers get rid of parts of the
tradition they feel are pointless
◦ The chant & the salute
◦ They keep the savage ritual of sacrifice
The author is pointing out how resistant
people are to change (esp. the older
generation – Old Man Warner)
Plot Elements
Exciting
force
◦The
growing
season
Plot Elements
Climax
◦Tessie
draws the
black dot
Plot Elements
Resolution
◦ “‘It isn’t fair,’ . .
. and then they
were upon
her” (531)
◦ Tessie gets
stoned
Conflicts
Man
vs. man
◦ Tessie vs. the villagers
Man vs. self
◦ Tessie vs. feelings of injustice
Man vs. society
◦ Tessie vs. outdated tradition of
stoning
Characters
Mr. Summers
◦ In charge of the lottery. Wants to get
done in time for lunch & to go back to
work
◦ Lottery is a fact of life like any other
part of the day
Old Man Warner
◦ Been through the lottery 77 times &
doesn’t want to change it
◦ Represents stubborn older generation
Characters
Clyde
Dunbar
◦ Broken leg, but family draws
anyhow
◦ Everyone must participate
Mrs. Delacroix
◦ Chooses the largest stone
◦ Friendship ties don’t matter
Characters
Lil’ Davy
◦ The youngest Hutchinson
Even little children could be sacrificed
◦ Given tiny pebbles to stone his mother
Everyone participates so there is no guilt
Tessie Hutchinson
◦ Shows up late & jokes around until her family draws
the black dot
Fairness only matters to the victim
◦ Wants her daughter to be part of the draw
Willing to risk her own daughter’s life to save
herself
Theme
Man’s inhumanity to man
◦ The cruelty humans are capable of, the awful
things people do to others
◦ The villagers stone Tessie for the crops
◦ Tessie puts her own daughter at risk to save
herself
◦ No one was exempt (even Lil’ Davy could
have been chosen & had to stone his own
mother)
◦ Mrs. Delacroix chooses the largest stone
Theme
Fairness only matters to the victim
◦ Tessie was happy, joking, and participating until
her name was drawn
◦ It only became unfair when her name was
chosen
Theme
Reluctance of society to reject outdated
traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices
◦ Old Man Warner said that giving up the
lottery would be like going back to living in
caves
◦ The villagers got rid of the chant & salute, but
they kept the stoning
Theme
Society wrongfully designates scapegoats
to bear sins of the community
◦ For a successful growing season, Tessie was
the unlucky one chosen to be sacrificed
◦ Everyone participates so there is no guilt
Setting
June 27th, 10 AM, farming village (no year,
no town name)
◦ Could be anytime, any town because man’s
inhumanity to man happens any and
everywhere
Foreshadowing
Boys gathering stones at the beginning
The box is black
Tessie being late and making jokes
Tessie saying it isn’t fair when her family is
selected and when she draws the dot
Dramatic irony
When the reader
knows something the
character does not.
Don’t open the door!
Dramatic Irony
Giving up the lottery would be uncivilized
(Old Man Warner)
◦ Nothing civil about a lottery where the
winner gets stoned
Gave up parts of the ritual (salute, chant)
but keep the inhumane part (stoning)
Situational Irony
There is a
contradiction
between what the
reader expects to
happen and what
really happens
Situational irony
Sunny day, people talking and joking, ready
to eat lunch
◦ About to stone someone
Lotteries are supposed to be good . . . win
a prize
◦ The winner “wins” death
Symbols
The
black box
◦ Worn,
splintered,
fading
◦ Represents
outdated
traditions
Symbols
The
black dot
◦ Family member
who draws it is
stoned to death
◦ Represents the
scapegoat who
bears the blame
of society
Symbols
The
setting
◦ Vague with no
year, no town
name
◦ Represents how
man’s
inhumanity to
man happens
any time and
anywhere