Would you like to take part in an exciting loterry and be the one who is under usual circumstances called the winner? Would you like to be the one who gains some amazing prize like a vacation in Florida, the latest model of Ferarri or even a huge amount of money? If yes, then I do not recommend you to want to participate in Shirley Jackson`s lotterry because if you win, I can garantee you that nobody will envy you and the prize certainly won`t fulfil your expectations. In this work the lottery represents a really old and almost unbelievably cruel tradition in which the winner is set into a position of a scapegoat and his or her inevitable fate is to die. The author analyzes the attitudes of individual characters to this kind of the tradition and she also uses these characters to manifest the theme.
"The Lottery" written by Shirley Jackson Jackson reveals how ignorant and inhuman the society can be when clinging to an old and violent tradition. The plot is set into a small village in the 20th century. The main described event, the lottery, is conducted by the socially and economically dominant men in the town. The whole tradition of the drawing slips of paper from a black wooden box has its roots in ancient history and people already forgot the original reason of it. There are characters who are willing to make some changes about this tradition (e.g. Mr. Summers, the official of the lottery) but they are not successful because the conservatism of other villagers does not allow them any changes. On the other hand there are also people who are against any changes concerning this tradition. When the lottery is about to begin, people are assembled on the square between the post office and the bank. Everybody is there except Tessie Hutchinson who arrives as the last one. Soon after her arrival the lottery begins. Heads of families, men, draw at first. Mr. Hutchinson gets a paper with a black point which means that he and other members of his family have to draw again.