The Lottery Flashcards
by Shirley Jackson — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Lottery
Where and when does The Lottery take place?
The story takes place on a warm summer morning in a small rural village of about 300 residents. The lottery begins at 10 a.m. so the villagers can finish in time for lunch.
Who officiates the lottery ceremony?
Mr. Summers, a town leader, officiates the lottery. He is assisted by Mr. Graves, who helped prepare the paper slips the night before.
What do the children do while waiting for the lottery to begin?
The children busy themselves collecting stones and piling them in one corner of the square. This seemingly innocent detail becomes chilling once the ending is revealed.
What is stored overnight in a safe at the coal company before the lottery?
Paper slips listing all the families in the village are stored overnight in a safe at the coal company. Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves prepared them the night before.
Who is Tessie Hutchinson?
Tessie Hutchinson is the protagonist who ultimately "wins" the lottery. She arrives late, making an undramatic entrance and chatting with her friend Mrs. Delacroix before the drawing begins.
Which family is chosen in the first round of the lottery?
The Hutchinson family is chosen when Bill Hutchinson draws the slip of paper with a black spot. This triggers the second round, in which each family member must draw individually.
What happens in the second round of the lottery?
Each member of the selected family, regardless of age, must draw a slip of paper. Tessie Hutchinson draws the slip with the black circle, marking her as the final "winner."
How does The Lottery end?
Tessie Hutchinson is stoned to death by the entire village, including her own family. The story closes with the famous six words: "And then they were upon her."
What are Tessie Hutchinson's final words?
Tessie protests, "It isn't fair, it isn't right." Her complaint is not about the lottery itself but about the outcome — she never objected until her own family was chosen.
What are the six closing words of The Lottery?
"And then they were upon her." These six words are considered among the most famous closing lines in short story history, ending the story at the moment the stoning begins.
What detail about little Davy Hutchinson makes the ending especially disturbing?
Someone gives Tessie's own young son, Davy Hutchinson, a few pebbles to throw at his mother. This detail shows that even the youngest members of the community are conditioned to participate in ritual violence.
What do the stones in The Lottery symbolize?
The stones symbolize mob violence and communal conformity. One interpretation is that they represent gossip, rumors, and character assassination — the ways communities can destroy an individual through collective cruelty.
What is the main theme of The Lottery?
The central theme is the danger of blindly following tradition and mob mentality. The villagers continue the lottery without questioning it, demonstrating how communities can normalize and perpetuate violence through ritual.
What does the lottery itself symbolize?
The lottery symbolizes chance and the arbitrary nature of victimhood — anyone in the community could become a target at any time. It also represents unjust traditions that persist unchallenged simply because "we've always done it."
What theme does Tessie's protest reveal about conformity?
Tessie's protest only after her family is selected reveals her complicity in the system. She accepted the lottery as long as she was not its victim, illustrating how people tolerate injustice when the odds seem to favor them.
What is the significance of the names Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves?
The names are an example of symbolic naming. "Summers" evokes the pleasant, ordinary summer day that masks the horror, while "Graves" foreshadows death and the deadly outcome of the ceremony.
What literary device is used when children collect stones at the opening of the story?
This is foreshadowing. The innocent detail of children piling stones takes on a sinister meaning only at the end, when those same stones are used to kill Tessie Hutchinson.
What is dramatic irony in The Lottery?
The story's title, "The Lottery," creates dramatic irony because readers assume the winner receives a prize. The horrifying reveal that winning means death subverts that expectation entirely.
What narrative technique does Jackson use to build suspense?
Jackson uses a calm, matter-of-fact tone throughout the story, describing the lottery as a routine community event. This mundane tone makes the violent ending far more shocking and unsettling.
When was The Lottery first published?
The Lottery was published on June 26, 1948, in The New Yorker. It is not in the public domain.
What was the public reaction when The Lottery was first published?
The story generated an avalanche of angry letters and New Yorker subscription cancellations. Many rural readers felt it was an attack on small-town American values, and even Jackson's own mother criticized it.
What did one literary critic call The Lottery?
One literary critic described it as "a chilling tale of conformity gone mad." This phrase is widely used in literary discussions to capture the story's core critique of unthinking group behavior.
What is the significance of surrounding villages considering abandoning the lottery?
This detail shows that the tradition is not universal or inevitable — other communities are questioning it. It makes the village's refusal to stop all the more damning, suggesting active choice to preserve a violent ritual.
How does the concept of civic responsibility relate to The Lottery?
The lottery is an official act of governance; every villager who participates shares responsibility for Tessie's death. This echoes Henry David Thoreau's argument that citizens bear moral responsibility for the actions their government takes on their behalf.
What does the black box used to hold the lottery slips represent?
The old, splintered black box represents tradition itself — worn down, no longer fit for purpose, yet retained out of habit and fear of change. The villagers are unwilling to replace it, just as they are unwilling to abandon the lottery.