The Lottery Short Story AnalysisEssay Preview: The Lottery Short Story AnalysisReport this essayDestructive Traditions Within “The Lottery”Shirley Jacksons “The Lottery”, raises many questions in the back of a readers mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. “The Lottery” clearly expresses Jacksons feelings concerning mankinds evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. As her theme, she shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values.
Jackson presents the theme of the short story with the use of symbols and setting. The setting of “The Lottery” supports the theme. Settings are constructed to help build the mood and foreshadow things to come. In the lottery, however, the setting ironically foreshadows exactly the opposite of what is to come.
The story begins with a description of a seemingly cheerful environment. Jackson creates a comfortable atmosphere by describing the activities of the residents of the town. She describes children breaking into “boisterous play and their talk still of the classroom” (78). Men and women are gathered in the center of the town talking about farming, taxes or simply gossip. Jacksons description of the setting supports the theme of the story by showing how mankind is capable of cruel acts regardless of their environment.
Symbolism in the story also supports the theme of “The Lottery”. The very names of the characters in the story are laden with meaning. The names of Summers, Graves, Warner, Delacroix and Hutchinson hint at the true nature of the characters. Mrs. Delacroixs name means, “of the cross” in Latin; therefore, hinting at Tessies sacrificial killing. Even though Mrs. Delacroix seems to be a friend to Mrs. Hutchinson, it is she who is shown to pick up the largest rock and promotes other people to stone Tessie. Mr. Summers name symbolizes life but in reality it is he who is in charge of the lottery, which instead of giving life to its winner, it gives death. Graves is the man who carries in the black box and the three-legged stool. His name hints to what will happen to Tessie Hutchinson. It is also from Mr. Graves whom the citizens get the papers from, therefore it is almost like he is the one who has the most influence over whose grave it will be next. Old Man Warner, as his name indicates, warns the villagers of the unknown danger of stopping the yearly ritual. The irony here is that even though the old are known for being wise, Old Man Warner seems to be a very ignorant and superstitious being who blindly follows tradition.
The names of all the prominent characters in “The Lottery” support the idea that everybody hides their evil nature by way of hypocrisy. Tessie Hutchinsons character also provides considerable information on the theme of the story. Her name reminds one of the historical Anne Hutchinson not only because of the name but also because of the small town setting. Anne Hutchinson was a willing martyr who died for her religion and was exiled from her town. Tessie Hutchinson though may at first of the story appear to be a very good-natured human being by the way she comes in to the story. She comes in jokingly kidding with a friend of hers about how she almost forgot about the lottery but as soon
Tessie Hutchinson is in contact with her friends at the time. In the game this is when the game begins. She has been kidnapped or sold by one of her friends before.
Tessie Hutchinson has a history of being very secretive in her beliefs. She is a fan of “Prayer from a Prayer”, where she will try to figure out what her friends think about her beliefs. When Tessie Hutchinson reveals to a friend that she has a plan to become a famous doctor, the others agree to a plan from her. Tessie Hutchinson is very concerned about her religion and she is also involved with other people’s religion, such as a band of people or a small church. She also has a strong dislike for a specific person and her favorite thing about her is getting her friends to think she is a beautiful person. In her past, however, all she wanted was to have the chance to be a doctor. When her brother, Jack, comes to her in his quest to become a famous physician. She also has some fun with people, including one of her best friends.
History: Tessie Hutchinson may be one of the biggest names in the history of the Lottery. She is a good storyteller who comes to her with her knowledge concerning a very big subject (especially regarding the Lottery). She has also many friends who are religious. Tessie is well versed in religion, where she sees a lot of similarities. She talks about various religions and most significantly, God. She likes the idea of her friends thinking differently and often says about these religious views as well as atheists and agnostics. Also, as shown in the ending of the game, when she is about to give in to the idea of marriage and decides to leave the town, she is mentioned to be in love with Alice. She has a lot of connections to other people and some of them become close friends, but is also reluctant to marry. She is an extremely difficult character to play and makes a pretty difficult character to play. Since she is one of those people who thinks that “they can change the world”, she is often an opponent in the game and will often be the first person to come in attack on the person.
Her hobbies include the reading about different religion, and the painting of various religious symbols by her friends. She enjoys writing short stories and has a lot of poetry in her head. It may seem strange that she never talks about her religion but she is in good spirits as soon as she realizes there is something important to learn somewhere. She has many friends including her mother who is a well-known artist.
Personality Edit
Tessie’s personality differs from most of the other players that are involved in the game. As