1. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
S5 Prose
‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson

2. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Danger of Blindly
Following Tradition
The village lottery culminates
in a violent murder each
year, a bizarre ritual that
suggests how dangerous
tradition can be when
people follow it blindly.

3. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Danger of Blindly
Following Tradition
The villagers’ blind acceptance of the lottery has allowed murder to become a part of the town fabric
If the villagers stopped to question it, they would be forced to ask themselves why they are committing a murder – but no-one stops to question

4. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Danger of Blindly
Following Tradition
“Mr Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no-one like to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.”

5. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Danger of Blindly Following Tradition “ ‘The 77th year I’ve been in the lottery,’ said Old Man Warner as he went through the crowd, ‘77th time.’ ” “ The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago and the black box resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the village , was born.” “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.”

6. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Find quotations from the
story to answer these
questions:
What does Mr Summers always suggest the villagers do?
How do people feel about this?
Does this make sense? (no quotation needed; your thoughts)

7. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Second Theme:
The Randomness of
Persecution
Villagers persecute individuals at random,
and the victim is guilty of no transgression
other than having drawn the wrong slip of
paper from a box. All villagers have the same
chance of becoming the victim – even
children are at risk. Each year, someone new
is chosen and killed, and no family is safe. The
villagers turn on the “winner” swiftly; the
instant Tessie chooses the marked slip of
paper she loses her identity as a popular
housewife.

8. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Randomness of Persecution “Mr Summers stirred up the papers inside it.” “ ‘Well everyone,‘ Mr Summers said, ‘That was done pretty fast and now we’ve got to be hurrying a little more to get done in time.’ ” “ Suddenly all of the women began to speak at once, saying, ‘Who is it? Who’s got it?’” “Mrs Graves said, ‘All of us took the same chance.’” “ Mrs Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs Dunbar, “C’mon” she said, “Hurry up.””

9. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Tessie:
How does Jackson set her apart from the
other villagers; what makes her different?
Old Man Warner:
Why does Old Man Warner feel so
strongly about the lottery? What does
this reveal about his character?
Mr Summers:
How does Jackson set Mr Summers apart
from the other villagers?
Bill Hutchinson:
How does he react when his family and
wife “win” the lottery? In what way is this an
unexpected reaction?

10. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
The Randomness of Persecution
These ordinary people easily kill someone when they are told to
The person who is killed is innocent of any wrongdoing
Once picked, Tessie loses her identity as wife, mother, neighbour and friend

11. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is when
seemingly innocent remarks
or actions indicate the
conclusion of a story, film,
poem or play

12. ‘The Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson
For example:
Mr Summers says to Tessie when she
arrives late, ‘“Thought we were going to
have to get on without you
Tessie”’ Meaning he thought they would
have to start the lottery without her.
However, this is also foreshadowing
Tessie’s death and her family having to
live without her.
Find two more example of
foreshadowing in the story (I spoke about
one of them last Monday)