Importance Of Lottery In The Lottery By Tessley Hutchinson

“’It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,’ Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.” These are the famous last words written by Shirley Jackson in “The Lottery.” “The Lottery” is a short story that takes place in a small town with nearly 300 people. Every year, the town comes together for the yearly tradition of the lottery, which is a human sacrifice to prepare for the fall crops. “The Lottery” is a suspenseful story that shows the irony to many important details of the story, including the true meaning of a lottery, the dangers of keeping only some aspects of a tradition, and the defiance of Tessie Hutchinson. The word lottery is almost always paired with the word winner. However, winner usually means receiving an award of some sort,

For example, Tessie was late for the lottery because she was washing dishes, although attending the lottery is mandatory and no one is expected to be late (265). All other women of the town make their way to the event in a timely manner as they chatter and “exchanging gossip with while meeting their husbands” (263). Tessie seems to be an outcast as she sets herself apart from all other characters in “The Lottery.” It seems odd at the end of the story when Tessie is protesting the results of the lottery because she never showed any oppression towards to lottery until she became threatened. “Tessie has, like the rest of the town, steadfastly refused to imagine the lottery from the victim 's point of view until forced to. Tessie pays a heavy penalty for her share in her society 's lack of vision, of sympathetic imagination.”(Cleveland) No one seems to care that she will die; in fact, her husband even tells her to “keep quiet” (268). Despite Tessie’s attempt to save herself, her fellow neighbors and family show no mercy while taking her life.

It has been said that Jackson did not randomly make up the name Tessie Hutchinson, but that she carefully selected her name to link her to a well-known woman in history. This historical person was known as Ann Hutchinson, and is also famous for “paying”, as Tessie did with the stoning.

Jackson also has a character in her short story, “The Adventures of James Harris” named James Harris. Jackson seems to keep James Harris as relatively the same character, or at least the same qualities. “Jackson 's symbolic intentions are not incidental but, indeed, paramount.”(Nebeker) Jackson proves herself to be a very complex writing by the details of her story, especially in “The Lottery.” Without digging into “The Lottery” it is hard to grasp the true meaning of the story. On the surface the lottery is about a town that sacrifices a resident in order to have a good farming season, but with a little research one discovers that “The Lottery” is full of irony that comes out and brings a whole new view on the story.