Believing in something, such as God or gods, has always been part of human nature. A long time ago, when a lot religions were newer to the world, people were punished for their actions. For example, people who believed in Judaism could have been punished for adultery, being a wizard, rebelling against parents when already given a warning, etc. Anyone who disobeyed the laws would be punished by having rocks thrown at them. The townspeople would gather around and either watch or participate. In some ways, the citizens who disobeyed the law were being made an example of, but some people in the towns just liked to stone others. They wanted to see, and participate in the stoning every time. Not only is this seen in religious practices, centuries …show more content…
In the Hutchinson family, Tessie’s husband, Bill, tries to assert his dominance over her. He believes that she is his property, which means he gets to control her. Early in the short story, Tessie arrives late to the lottery because she forgot what day it was. Bill’s friends say to him, “‘Here comes your Missus, Hutchinson’” (Jackson 3). This shows how even the people around their family believe he has power over her. All of the power Bill asserts over Tessie proves his cruelness. Not only is this true, but, “The lottery also reinforces a village work ethic which distracts the villagers’ attention from the division of labor that keeps women powerless in their homes” (Kosenko). For cruelty to not be true, women would have to have some power somewhere in their life. Most women today, have shared power in their homes,it is not all dominated by men. Since Tessie does not have any control in her life, when she “dares to question the method of drawing, her husband tells her to shut up” (Themes). Again, he proves his dominance over her, governing her life, and showing his cruel humanity. Tessie also shows her human nature to people within her family. When the lottery is starting to take place and Tessie’s family is chosen, Mr. Summers asks who is included in their family lottery. Tessie yells, “‘There’s Don and Eva’... ‘Make them take their chance!’” (Jackson 5). She is trying to protect herself from …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, the boys collect rocks for the lottery. “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson 1). These types of stones are the best ones for throwing accurately (Coulthard). The human nature of cruelty is so evident in the community that even a little kid shows signs of its insensibility. Children are suppose to be so innocent and compassionate, but the cruelty and lack of relationships in this town, really gets to them. The children are not the only ones acting awful during the lottery, the grownups act horrible during it too. Earlier in the story, Mrs. Delacroix sounds nice to Tessie; but once Tessie’s name is called, Mrs. Delacroix grabs “a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” (Jackson 7). She would rather kill someone instead of having a friendship. Not only does she want to kill someone who she could have a possible friendship with, but she wants it to be as painful as possible. This displays her true human nature, and also shows how aggressive unconnected people in this town can be. In the community, no matter someone's age or beliefs, their human nature of cruelty towards others in the community can be
She does the lottery just like everyone else, and reacts to it just like everyone else. Towards the beginning of the story, where she is greeted by a late Tessie, she joked around with Tessie and was nice to her. Mrs.Delacroix became nervous when her husband went up to draw just like all the other women. However, when Bill Hutchinson was chosen, her attitude towards Tessie completely changed, “Be a good sport, Tessie,”. She became rude with her, and she seemed aggressive. It seems like she wanted Tessie to be quiet and to stop talking. This was shown very clearly in the movie. This is part of Mrs. Delacroix’s second side. Then once Tessie was chosen, she acted as if they never had any type of relationship, “Mrs.Delacroix selected a stone so large, she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs.Dunbar. “Come on,” she said “Hurry up.”. That is when humanity went out the window for Mrs.Delacroix, and when her true self came
Tessie Hutchinson’s late arrival at the lottery seemed almost normal because people do get caught up in a chore and run late. The late arrival set her apart from the crowd. Mr. Summers, the man drawing the “winning” ticket from the box, noticed Tessie arriving late and states “Thought we were going to have to get on without you (567),” which is predictive about Tessie’s fate. Jackson produces suspense through the arrival of Tessie Hutchinson.
Tessie Hutchinson plays a significant role by displaying hypocrisy and human weakness.She protest against the lottery when her family is endangered, she complains ironically and shouted to Mr. Summers, “you did not give him enough time to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” (pg. 247). Her statement about the fairness of the lottery is ironic because until her family was selected, she does not seem to believe that the lottery is unfair.
The town's citizens are eager, gathering in the town square in order to take part in the yearly lottery. With the story focused around one particular family, the Hutchinsons, who are so anxious to get it all over with until they find that one of their members is to participate in the lottery's closing festivities, Tessie. Of course, unlike your typical lotteries, this is not one that you would want to win. The one chosen from the lottery is to undertake a cruel and unusual death by stoning at the hands of their fellow townsmen for the sake that it may bring a fruitful crop for the coming harvest season. Ironically, many of the towns people have suggested that the lottery be put to an end, but most find the idea unheard of being that they have lived in it's practice for most of their lives.
This simultaneously relieves some of the suspense regarding the result of the lottery, while also adding even more tension, as the audience still does not know Tessie Hutchinson’s fate.
her husband to go and pick a piece of paper. When Tessie wins the lottery; she
Tessie’s attempt to have her daughter draw with the family is just heartless. Once reread it seemed like Tessie wants an extra chance to win some money but, in reality, she is trying to provide a better chance for herself not to be
...ces of becoming the victim even children are at risk.Each year they chose any body with that black draw slip telling to die,where as no human being is safe . What makes “The Lottery” so thrilling is the swiftness which makes the villagers turn against the victim(Tessie).
She appears to be Tessie's friend at the beginning of the story but encourages that the villagers stone her. Before chosen, Tessie is eager to see the lottery through but once she is selected she is just as eager to get out of it. " There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. " Make them take their Chance!"
In an agriculture-dominant village, the lottery is practiced as the annual tradition. The “fortunate” lottery winner will be stoned to death by the town after a few rounds of drawing lots. Such flabbergasted ritual is seen as a norm in that village and the villagers even feel excited over this cruel occasion due to the mob psychology of people. The villagers abandon their rationale in demonstrating violence towards the innocent “winner”. When Tessie draws the winner piece, everyone in the village straight up turns on her with stones and pebbles including Mrs. Delacroix, her
When asked if there was anyone else in the household, Tessie claims, “There’s Don and Eva... Make them take their chance” (Jackson 5). By volunteering her daughters, that are married and thus draw with their one families, Tessie shows that she would rather have a family member be stoned to death than herself. She is also set out as a hypocrite because she does not complain when any other family is picking slips (if another family had picked the slip she would have stoned someone else to death), she only questions the lottery when her family is the one that has to choose. She cried out multiple times, “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson 8), questioning the fairness of the tradition after she is the one chosen to be stoned to death. Tessie finally sees outside of the bubble that everyone in the village is in. It is here that we see that violence is acceptable until it becomes
Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson arrives late, having “cleanly forgotten what day it was” (411). While the town does not make a fuss over Tessie’s tardiness, several people make remarks, “in voices loud enough to be heard across the crowd” (411). Jackson makes the choice to have Tessie stand out from the crowd initially. This choice first shows Tessie’s motivation. Tessie was so caught up in her everyday household chores that she does not remember that on this one day of the year someone was going to be stoned to death at the lottery.
When the story first opens up, the introductory scene that opens the story up includes children gathering stones and running to the destination where the lottery takes place. According to Linda Wagner-Martin’s journal, “The Lottery by Shirley Jackson”, she explains that the children running around provides a calm and peaceful vibe to the story. She also explains that bringing the children into the description creates a poignancy not only for the death of Tessie, the mother, but for the sympathy the crowd gives to her youngest son, Dave. She explains that it’s family members, women and children, and fellow residents that are being murdered through this ritual. The author additionally attempts to throw the reader off at first by creating a beautiful image of a town where the “flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” which gives an innocent feel to the town; but, the story actually ends with an egregious ending. One of the children, Martin, “stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the younger boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones.” The reason behind the younger children picking up the smoothest stones was because it would allow the person that’s being stoned a slow death due to their soft edges. With this, Jackson indicates that the children define this murderous and unethical event as ethical because they help their elders murder someone
Tessie is different from the other villagers, almost defiant. This quality is apparent when she arrives late to the event. Being consumed in simple household chores, like the dishes, she has completely forgotten about the lottery until she notices her entire family is gone. Her late arrival is strange because the tradition of the lottery is of great importance to the village’s culture. Aside from Tessie, all the other people have arrived early and calmly waited for the lottery to begin. Her late arrival not only separates her from the other villagers, but catches everyone’s attention as she proceeds to hurry through the crowd to find her family. After her arrival, Tessie immediately begins to make jokes about her absence. She seems to do this ...
Tessie Hutchinson was angry that her husband had gotten the lottery, so the family drew again. In the final draw, the crowd saw that Tessie had gotten the paper with the black dot. The instant the crowd knew who got the lottery, they began grabbing the stones the boys had piled up earlier. Formerly, Mr. Summers joined the crowd and said “let’s finish quickly” to be in time for noon dinner(Jackson, 7). At this instant, Mrs. Delacroix had “selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands” for the ritual(Jackson, 7). This sentence shows how terrible the lottery is and how extreme it can get. Without delay, Tessie is standing in the middle of the crowd when “a stone hit her on the side of the head” and that was the signal to begin the ritual(Jackson, 7). The lottery is just a cruel thing to the victim and their family who have to watch and be a part