Internal Conflict In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

The Lottery That Was Quite the Contrary

When someone thinks of a lottery, they imagine winning a large amount of money. This version of a lottery is quite the opposite. In the short story, “The Lottery,” the villagers of a small town gather together in the square for the annual lottery. This event is conducted by each man of the family picking a piece of paper out of the box and one man would receive the piece with a black dot on it. That man’s family would then all pick a piece of paper as well. Whichever family member picked the paper with a dot, is then stoned and killed by the rest of the village. Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” reveals how innocent people are victimized for absurd reasons through the use of conflict, symbolism,

The central conflict used is the external conflict of person vs. society. The story states, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with the heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill Hutchinson held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.” (69). This quote reveals how Tess was now conflicting with the rest of the village. The town, including her family, instantly turned on her just because it was tradition and what all the towns around them were doing. The use of conflict to reveal how Tess was up against her society connects back to how people are victimized for absurd reasons, such as picking the lucky piece of

The tragedy that occurs in the story is when Tess is murdered at the end by her village, including her family. The story states, “Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him. "It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.” (69). This quote exposes the tragedy that happens to Tess and to the others before her that were persecuted for illogical reasons. The purpose of inserting a tragedy at the end of the story is to give the story not only an eye-opening effect but also to include a traumatic scene to make the readers realize what these people go through, in the story and in