The Lottery distinguishes between family as an emotional bond and family (or the household) as a social bond. The household in The Lottery is a microcosm of the village’s overall social organization, with women deferring to men, and children deferring to their parents.
What family won The Lottery in the story The Lottery?
In The Lottery, the family that draws the winning piece is the Hutchinson family, which includes Bill, his wife Tessie, and the children Dave, Nancy, and Bill Jr. The one who receives the final paper with the fatal black spot is Tessie Hutchinson.
What do the households symbolize in The Lottery?
Lots are drawn by household. The traditional, patriarchal family unit, with the father at the head, symbolizes authority and hierarchy in the town. The residents’ fate is determined by their family name, rather than any actions they take as individuals.
What do the head of the families do in The Lottery?
The first part the head of the household had to pick for their family. … In the second part, each member of the selected family had to draw a slip of paper to see which member of that family gets selected for the lottery.
What does the story the lottery imply about family loyalties?
Expert Answers In The Lottery , the story implies that there are no family loyalties, only self-preservation. This is evidenced by the way that the Hutchinson family behaves when they are required to select slips, as the chosen family, to determine which member of their family will win the lottery.
Which family draws the marked slip?
After Bill Hutchinson draws the slip of paper marked with his family name, Mr. Summers asks if there are any other Hutchinson households. Tessie mentions her daughter, Eva, a married woman, and Mr. Summers responds to her here.
What was Shirley Jackson’s message in The Lottery?
The primary message of Shirley Jackson’s celebrated short story The Lottery concerns the dangers of blindly following traditions. In the story, the entire community gathers in the town square to participate in the annual lottery.
What happened in the story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson?
The Lottery is a short story by Shirley Jackson that depicts a small town’s annual lottery. … A second lottery is held with five slips of paper: one for each of the members of Bill’s family. His wife, Tessie, draws the black dot, and her neighbors stone her to death.
What is the point of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson?
An author’s purpose in writing a story is generally expressed in the theme. In this case, Shirley Jackson wrote The Lottery in order to express the theme of mindless adherence to tradition. Let’s face it. The only reason this town continues to conduct a lottery is because they’ve always done it.
Why is it important that the family stands together for the lottery?
Family. Family bonds are a significant part of the lottery, but the emphasis on family only heightens the killing’s cruelty because family members so easily turn against one another. Family ties form the lottery’s basic structure and execution.
How does the lottery affect the relationships in the story?
Answer: Near the end of The Lottery, Bill draws the slip with the black spot in the first round, which means that someone in his family will be stoned to death. This immediately begins to cause tension within the family and between Bill’s wife Tessie and some of people in the assembled crowd.
Which family wins the first round of the lottery?
In the story The Lottery, the first round of the lottery is to select a family unit. The second round is to select the family member within that unit who is the winner of the lottery. Thus, Tessie’s family is selected in the first round.
What is the procedure after Bill reveals his family is the one?
What is the procedure after Bill reveals that his family is the one? Slips will be put in the box for every member of the Hutchinson family.
What is Shirley Jackson trying to say with this story What is she saying about society and about human nature?
In my opinion, what she is trying to say is that we are all brutal and that we all have this ability to check our morality at the door and go ahead and do what everyone else is doing. She is saying that this makes it so evil can happen even in a place that looks nice and peaceful.
How does the lottery relate to human nature?
In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, cruelty is part of human nature, and the participants of the lottery demonstrate human cruelty through violence towards one another; markedly, by exhibiting desensitization to violence and the acceptance of violence resulting in internal dysfunction which is perpetuated yearly.
Who is Tessie Hutchinson?
Tessie Hutchinson The unlucky loser of the lottery. Tessie draws the paper with the black mark on it and is stoned to death. She is excited about the lottery and fully willing to participate every year, but when her family’s name is drawn, she protests that the lottery isn’t fair.
How does Bill Hutchinson feel about the lottery?
Bill Hutchinson is the husband of Tess Hutchinson. When she protests his selection in the lottery, he tells her to shut up. It is unclear why he does somaybe he believes in the lottery, or perhaps he doesn’t want the family to be shamed in front of the entire village.
How does Bill Hutchinson react when he wins the lottery?
Bill should be as distraught as Tessie, as he knows he or a member of his family will be killed. However, he seems embarrassed by Tessie’s reaction and more concerned with his family’s compliance than their actual well-being. I guess not, Joe, Bill Hutchinson said regretfully.
Who was exempt from the lottery?
Jackson makes it very clear that no on escapes the lottery. Children, the elderly, and even people who are sick or injured all participate.
What does the lottery symbolize?
The lottery represents any action, behavior, or idea that is passed down from one generation to the next that’s accepted and followed unquestioningly, no matter how illogical, bizarre, or cruel.
What does Old Man Warner symbolize in the lottery?
In The Lottery (1948), Old Man Warner symbolizes tradition and blind faith.
Who officiated The Lottery?
On a warm day in late June (the 27th, to be exact), villagers gather in the square to participate in a lottery run by Mr.Summers, who officiates at all the big civic events.
What happens in the end of The Lottery?
At the end of the story, Tessie is stoned to death. This is because she has picked the piece of paper with the black mark.
Why was The Lottery so controversial?
The Lottery was controversial because it critiqued blind conformity to tradition. It was written when American nationalism was rising in response to growing fears of communism. Many readers were thus upset with Jackson’s negative portrayal of conformity, which they interpreted as a critique of patriotism.
What does June 27 mean in the lottery?
That’s because June 27, in Shirley Jackson’s short story, The Lottery, is the date when residents of a seemingly quaint small town gather to participate in a ritual act of violence a development only revealed in the story’s final passages.
What is ironic about the ending of the lottery?
The title of Jacksons’s story is, therefore, ironic because, in her lottery, the winner does not receive a prize; she is, in fact, condemned to death. This adds an extra layer of irony because Jackson’s winner actually loses the biggest and most desirable prize of all: the gift of life.
