Irony is "the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect" (Google, Definitions). The Lottery takes place on a warm summer's day in June. There are only 300 people in the village, so the lottery takes only two hours. The village children, who had just finished school, run around and collect stones. The parents then join and they stand together waiting in anticipation for the annual Lottery to begin. There is a list made of all the families in the village and each member then represents a piece of paper. Tessie Hutchinson then joins the crowd late and flustered completely forgetting the day of The Lotter. She then joins her husband and family while the other villagers joke about her late arrival. Mr. Summers finishes calling out the names of the families and they are instructed to then open the papers. Word travels fast the Bill Hutchinson has the black dot. Tessie argues that it wasn't fair because Bill didn't have enough time to select a paper. Mr. Graves dumps the papers out onto the ground and then puts five papers back in for the Hutchinson's. Mr. Summers then calls each name again for the Hutchinson's. When they open their papers, they find that Tessie has now drawn the paper with the black dot on it. Mr. Summers instructs everyone to hurry up. The villagers begin to grab stones and run toward Tessie, who stands in the middle of a cleared crowd. Tessie says it's not fair and is hit in the head with a stone. In Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" she has many different ways of showing irony. Shown in which the setting of the story takes place in, the behavior that the villagers have towards the tradition, and in some ways it is expressed verbally in various situations.
From the first sentence on, it is described that the setting of The Lottery takes place in what is thought to be a pleasant day filled with traditions and celebration.
