The Lottery Analysis

The short story "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson is a surprising tale of a seemingly regular town that leads you through an everyday story to an abrupt and astonishing ending.

The Plot is a seemingly simple one. The people of a small village are getting ready for the annual lottery, held every year on June 27, just before the corn season. The villagers are what you expect. It says there are about 300 of them, and it gives specific names of a few. The children are freshly out of school for the summer, and it seems that the boys are up to no good, collecting stones and such, and the girls are acting more appropriate. The women are gossiping around Mr. Summers, a "jovial" man that is in charge of the day's events. As you progress through the story, you keep waiting and waiting for the conflict, until it falls upon you like a mountain of stones, literally. The story is told in a third person perspective. You are given numerous clues to the about the ending, but they are all misleading and cleverly neutral until the lottery's true intent is revealed to you. The theme of the story is estranged. The reader is lulled into a false sense of warmth and security. By the time the events begin to unfold, the story has taken a total swing toward the malevolent and it ends abruptly with blood thirsty fervor.

The imagery used in the story is very specific and misleading. The "fresh warmth of a summer day", and "richly green grass" is a safe and pleasant environment to imagine yourself in. The children talk harmlessly about school, and books, and the boys gather rocks, but that isn't uncommon or irregular. It's easy to dismiss this foreshadowing as simple boy mischief. The lottery, which is usually associated with beating the odds and winning something extravagant, is also taken as a positive feeling by the reader. It is compared to dances and other "civic activities", and is led by Mr. Summers, who himself is well liked and respected. Jackson takes the reader on a journey about the history of the littlest objects, such as the black box. She explains it's history briefly and about the lost traditions but nothing is overly emphasized and it's all just furthers the sensation of being in a familiar with familiar, every day objects. Mrs. Hutchinson even forgot that today was lottery day, signifying that it is a ritual, but not something that is weighing heavily on everyone's mind, if it can be so easily forgotten. The villagers laugh and talk normally while waiting for the lottery to begin. Everyone isn't even listening intently as Mr. Summers speaks the instructions aloud. As Mr. Summers begins letting the heads of the households take names, we get our first glimpse of what might be coming, when Jackson says that Mr. Graves meets Mr.