The Lottery

1.       Were you surprised by the ending of the story? If not, at what point did you know what was going to happen? How does Jackson start to foreshadow the ending in paragraphs 2 and 3? Conversely, how does Jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town? 

a.       Yes; She says the boys are stacking up the rocks, people aren’t too excited about it and don’t seem to make a huge deal of it.

2.       Where does the story take place? In what way does the setting affect the story? Does it make you more or less likely to anticipate the ending?

a.       A village of about 300 people; It says it is a calm beautiful day, kids are playing and people are happy, so I am less likely to expect the ending.

3.       In what ways are the characters differentiated from one another? Looking back at the story, can you see why Tessie Hutchinson is singled out as the "winner"? 

a.       Some are young and old, and have experienced this for many years; She is happy to participate every year but she shows up late this year.

4.       What are some examples of irony in this story? For example, why might the title, "The Lottery," or the opening description in paragraph one, be considered ironic? 

a.       Normally everyone wants to win the lottery, but in this case that is the last thing you want to do. Winning the lottery in our experience brings you good things, but winning in their case is an awful thing.

5.       Jackson gives interesting names to a number of her characters. Explain the possible allusions, irony or symbolism of some of these: 

 Delacroix – religious corruption

 Graves – shows death

 Summers – the event takes place in the summer

 Bentham

 Hutchinson

 Warner – could be seen to show a warning that something bad will happen

 Martin

6.       Take a close look at Jackson's description of the black wooden box (paragraph 5) and of the black spot on the fatal slip of paper. What do these objects suggest to you? Why is the black box described as "battered"? Are there any other symbols in the story?

a.       Black is a bad thing. It is worn out and older than the oldest person in town, some of the original wood color is starting to show. The boys were stacking rocks.

7.        What do you understand to be the writer's own attitude toward the lottery and the stoning? Exactly what in the story makes her attitude clear to us?

a.       She is intrigued by it; she kept it intriguing and suspenseful, you didn’t really know what was happening till the end

8.       This story satirizes a number of social issues, including the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. What kinds of traditions, practices, laws, etc. might "The Lottery" represent? 

a.       Old fashioned laws, where stoning is seen as ok.

9.       This story was published in 1948, just after World War II. What other cultural or historical events, attitudes, institutions, or rituals might Jackson be satirizing in this story?

a.       The holocaust, they kill those with a black dot, just like they killed those who were Jewish.

In a minimum of 200 words answer the following:  What does "The Lottery" tell us about human nature?  What does it say to us about violence?

We believe that violence can solve our problems and is ok in our society. We have grown so used to it and seeing it all over the news, that it no longer takes us by surprise or comes as a shock to us. In our human nature we learn to follow tradition and not really question why we do things. People never seem to want to change their tradition and the things that they are used to doing. The people in this story I’m sure want to change the way things are done and stop the lottery, but they are too afraid to do something about it. In a way this story partially reminds me of the Hunger Games. This village thinks it is socially acceptable to just stone people if they draw the card. If these people can stone some innocent child without care then they must have no heart. This village is absolutely insane, at first they seem like nice wonderful people but then they turn out to be violent people. Who would ever think of coming up with this “lottery” and why? It is an awful thing to make everyone draw from a box and if they grab a marked card they must get stoned, so they will have a good crop, that is so messed up.