Mrs. Hutchinson looks for her family and sees them at the front of the crowd.
As she
THE LOTTERY "THE LOTTERY"
SUMMARY
It is morning on June 27th (we're not given a year), and it's a lovely summer day.
Around ten o'clock, villagers start gathering in the town square, which is situated
between the post office and the bank.
We learn that there are other villages with such large populations that it takes them
two full days to complete the lottery; they have to start two days earlier to make up for
it.
This particular village has about three hundred people, so they can start at ten and be
done by supper.
Children are the first to gather. Bobby Martin fills his pocket with stones; the other
boys copy him. They choose smooth and round stones. Harry Jones and Dickie
Delacroix put the stones in one giant pile in one corner of the square. The girls keep to
themselves.
The men gather and talk the usual farmer talk: weather, planting, taxes. They seem
subdued "they smiled rather than laughed."
The women arrive after the men and call for their children, who obey reluctantly.
Mr. Summers, who runs a coal business, is the man in charge of all civic events. He is
in charge of the lottery, and we learn that people feel sorry for him because he has no
children and his wife likes to nag him.
He arrives carrying a black wooden box.
Mr. Graves, the postmaster, follows Mr. Summers carrying a three-legged stool. The
box is placed upon the stool. Mr. Summers mixes up the papers inside the box.
We learn that the original material for the lottery was lost a long time ago, but that the
black box has been used as far back as living memory.
Each year, Mr. Summers talks about replacing the box, because it's getting old
and shabby, but it represents tradition to the villagers.
Mr. Martin and his oldest son, Baxter, steady the box as Mr. Summers thoroughly
mixes the papers. In the past, they used chips of wood, but Mr. Summers successfully
lobbied to replace these chips with slips of paper.
Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are in charge of creating the slips of paper.
There's a bunch of bureaucratic processes to complete before the lottery begins.
We learn that the whole ritual behind the lottery has changed over time for example,
there used to be a salute used to address each person who drew from the box, but
now it's considered acceptable for the official merely to speak to the person drawing.
Mr. Summers talks to Mr. Graves and the Martins for some time before finally turning
to the villagers. The lottery is about to commence. (The moment we've all been
waiting for.)
Mrs. Hutchinson comes hurrying along and joins the back of the crowd. She tells Mrs.
Delacroix that she had forgotten about the lottery until she realized her kids weren't
home.
Mrs. Delacroix reassures Mrs. Hutchinson that she didn't miss anything.
goes to join them, the crowd alerts her husband. Mrs. Hutchinson tells her husband
that she had to wash the dishes.
Mr. Summers tells the crowd they'd better get started, and checks for absentees. A
man named Dunbar has a broken leg, so his wife is drawing for him. Her eldest boy is
not yet of age, or else he would be drawing in his father's place.
Mr. Summers accounts for everyone, including Old Man Warner, then goes over the
rules of the lottery. He will call for the head of the household, who will then take a
paper from the box and keep it hidden in his hand until everyone has had a turn.
The villagers are familiar with the rules; only half of them are listening to Mr.
Summers.
Mr. Summers begins to call roll, and various men come forward to take their slips of
paper.
Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Graves gossip in the back row about how time flies. The last
lottery feels very recent.
Delacroix is called, and Mrs. Delacroix holds her breath as her husband moves
forward.
More and more people obtain slips of paper and hold them nervously as the rest of the
villagers come forward.
Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner about talk in another village about giving up the
lottery. Old Man Warner scoffs at the idea.
Mrs. Adams tells him that some places have given up the lottery.
Mrs. Dunbar wishes it was over. She tells her son to ready himself to run back and tell
his father the news.
Mr. Summers selects a slip of paper from the box for himself and then calls Old Man
Warner forward. Old Man Warner tells the crowd that this is the seventy-seventh time
he's been in the lottery.
After two more names, Mr. Summers allows everyone to open their slip of paper. We
learn that Bill Hutchinson has "it," whatever "it" is. Mrs. Dunbar tells her son to go
inform his father.
Tess Hutchinson, his wife, immediately begins to protest. Her friends attempt to calm
her, and her husband tells her to be quiet.
We learn that the Hutchinsons have three children: Bill, Jr., Nancy, and Dave.
Five slips of paper go into the box and each member of the family is forced to select a
slip. As Nancy draws her slip, a girl clearly whispers that she hopes Nancy is not
chosen, and Old Man Warner grumbles that times have changed.
Each member of the Hutchinson family opens his or her slip of paper, and one by one
they are exonerated until only Tess is left. Her slip of paper has a black spot on it.
Mr. Summers urges the crowd to finish quickly. The villagers pick up the stones
gathered earlier. Mrs. Delacroix picks up an enormous stone as Mrs. Dunbar tells her
to go on ahead.
Tess stands in the center of the crowd, saying that it isn't fair. Her own son has a few
pebbles in hand. A stone hits her as Old Man Warner encourages the crowd.
Tess screams as the villagers attack her.
THE LOTTERY THEMES
 BACK
On a basic level, "The Lottery" asks us to think about the rituals and traditions we unthinkingly
follow as members of our society. Beyond critiquing the ways in which custom obscures right
and wrong, the lottery also becomes a way of analyzing "traditional" social and gender divisions:
the random distribution of paper means some families are fortunate and others aren't.

We think it's significant that it's paper that has come to replace wood chipsmuch as paper
money has taken the place of gold or goods for barter. The paper, either in the lottery or in your
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wallet, is symbolic of exchange value; as we get more "civilized," we lose track of what this
paper really means. In the case of both the lottery and cash, paper can mean fortune, either
good or badand it's disturbing how much life (and wealth) can be left up to the gambles of
The Lottery Themes chance.

Questions About Society and Class

Society and Class
1. How would you characterize the village's society? Happy? Affluent? Patriarchal? How does it
On a basic level, "The Lottery" asks us to think about the rituals and traditions we unthinkingly follow as
compare to your own village/town/city?
members of our society. Beyond critiquing the ways in which custom obscures right and wro... 2. What kinds of values do the townspeople seem to hold about the social roles of men and women?
Do these roles have any connection to the lottery?
3. What's up with the children of the village specifically the boys being the first to stockpile
stones? What, if anything, is Jackson trying to suggest about children?
4. Do any class differences exist in "The Lottery"? What influence might that have on the story?
Tradition and Customs
"The Lottery" tells the story of an annual tradition practiced by the villagers of an anonymous small town, a
tradition that appears to be as vital to the villagers as New Year celebrations might b...

Hypocrisy
"The Lottery" explores sudden shifts in opinion and loyaltiesin other words, hypocrisy. But it's worth asking
whether changes in allegiance during the lottery are conscious enough to be construe...

Family
"The Lottery" plays around with the concept of family in interesting ways. The thing is, each person in the
lottery must draw by household, so this is the moment, each year, when belonging to a giv...

THE LOTTERY THEME OF

SOCIETY AND CLASS
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