About Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery

Tessie Hutchinson

Tessie Hutchinson is one of the lottery’s main characters. When she appears late to the event and claims that she had misunderstood what the event was scheduled for that day, everyone stares at her with awe, and she does seem out of place. Tessie’s situation is unusual in that, when her classmates arrive with their husbands laughing and placidly anticipating the day, she comes out of breath and becomes deeply confused. Tessie seems to have committed a heinous crime, given that it was such a special day for all of the villagers, and no one arrived late, but she was well conscious of the importance of such a solemn day. When she eventually settled down, Jackson has set her apart as an individual who bears blame in that he terms her “a free spirit” (Jackson 112). Villagers go to the extent of wondering why Tassie had to behave in such like a manner because it is only “a man whose leg is broken that is allowed to be absent at the lottery” (Jackson 116). The development that she would later experience grows from the earlier understanding that she is a free spirit. During the picking of papers to reward the lucky winner, the Hutchinson family happens to pick the “fortune” and immediately bears the risk of one of its members facing death. Tessie is eventually stoned to death, and while she cries “It wasn’t fair!”, nobody listens to her (Jackson 113). The development of this character is that she is finally silenced, despite her efforts to evade the danger. The purpose of the character of Tessie Hutchinson is to challenge the readers of this story about the evils in our societies that are committed against innocent persons. Since there is commonly no ground to defend one’s position, punishment by death is not usually the right option. Instead, corrective measures that allow improvement would be better because once a person is executed, he/she will never have a chance again to correct the mistake. If it was not Tessie Hutchinson who was selected for the stoning to death, she could possibly not have defended the party who would be chosen instead, defending those who fall prey to injustices of their respective societies.

Old Man Warner

Another character who is worthy to note is Old Man Warner. He has had an opportunity to participate in the occasion for a total of 77 lotteries, and his staunch experience gives him the confidence to persist that everything should be done according to history, and nothing ought to be changed even by a small margin. The Old man is threatened by all options for change, and he verbally lashes at the young generations as those “crazy fools,” (Jackson 115). His form of wrong reasoning is what towers high in his limited understanding as he argues that when people want to end the lottery, they would soon demand to “live in caves” as the lottery is the ultimate experience that keeps people together in the society (Jackson 115). Indeed, the old wives’ belief is what runs the mind of the Warner, which stipulates, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”. He maintains that if the lottery comes to a halt, then people will have no option but to eat “chickweed and acorns” (Jackson 112). The development of this character means that the lottery is the only progressive element that keeps life going, as any contrary opinion would mean people will again begin to hunt and gather for life, which would be retrogressive. Therefore, he wants status quo to be maintained for life. The purpose of this character is to show how dangerous it can be, even to the level of losing innocent lives, when people do not embrace changes in the society. Furthermore, through the character of Warner, the author of the lottery allows his audience to recognize and appreciate the need for adopting reason and change in order to solve the evolving problems in the society.

Literary Features: Dramatic and Verbal Irony

One of the literary features employed by the author on a significant scale to develop his characters is both the dramatic and the verbal irony. The tragic irony is evidenced in the text, wherein there is a clear contrast between what the audience of Shirley upholds to be true and what the characters know. On the other hand, the verbal irony comes out when what happens as an eventuality is entirely different from what the protagonists and antagonists portray. Because the lottery is an event associated with everything right, even before the occasion begins as would be judged from the title, the dramatic irony is evidenced just before the essay starts, following the expectation of a pleasant encounter ahead. The new day has already begun, everybody is at peace, and spirits are high. Nevertheless, before the sun sets, somebody is going to be persecuted by being stoned to death, which brings out the theme of hypocrisy in the society. The dramatic irony is confirmed because the characters in the text are well aware of what would later transpire, however, the audience does not know about it. While the author brings the lottery in the context of other harmless experiences, nobody is given space to question the outcome. Eventually, all appears to be normal. The lottery was prescribed in dignity and facilitated by Mr. Summers as was anticipated, including the teen club, the square dances, and the Halloween program. All people are jovial. However, death is inevitable at the moment. Moreover, it is ironical when the narrator states that, “though the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 114). Nevertheless, even though the people do not remember the means of sacrificing one of their own at the ceremony, they all recall on how to throw stones until one of the individuals succumbs to death. On the other hand, the stoning takes place, and Tessie Hutchinson shouts “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson 112).

Symbols: Black Box and The Lottery

Both the black box and the lottery are used as symbols in the story to express the theme of hypocrisy, family setups, and traditional customs as well as the development of the characters. The choice of the black box is a representation of betrayal of the loyalty of the villagers, the lack of trust to it, and the illogic tradition behind the mere objection. The people are not able and willing to replace the black box, despite its depreciating value, almost falling apart, and having virtually lost its tincture in color over the years. The villagers are easily dubbed by buying the falsehood that the box in use was made from the pieces of other valuable old black boxes. This symbolizes how archaic and old meaningless traditions are still used to hurt the society in the present, even after decades of confirmed failure. Traditional relics are characteristic of the lottery, and they have been seemingly carried down the generations from other similar experiences, including the utilization of stones and the use of family lists.

Work Cited

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The New Yorker 1948. p. 110–116.