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Jonathan BurnsStudent Literary Analysis

The Hidden Truth: An Analysis ofShirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

1

It is as if the first stone thrown strikes the reader as well as Mrs. Hutchinson. And even though there were signs of the stoning to come, somehow the reader is taken by surprise at Tessie’s violent death. What factors contribute to the shock ending to “The Lottery”? On closer examination of the story, the reader finds that through all the events leading up to the ending, Shirley Jackson has used unsuspicious characterizations, unobtrusive symbolism, and ambiguous descriptions to achieve so sudden an impact.

2

By all appearances, the village is a normal place with normal people. Children arrive at the scene first, with school just over for the summer, talking of teachers and books, not of the fact that someone will die today (252). And as the adults show up, their actions are just as stereotypical: the men talk of farming and taxes, while the women gossip (252). The scene conveys no trace of hostility, no sense of dread in anyone: death seems very far away here.

3

The conversations between the villagers are no more ominous. As the husbands draw slips of paper for their families, the villagers make apparently everyday comments about the seemingly ordinary event of the lottery. Mr. Summers is regarded as a competent and respected figure, despite his wife being “a scold” (253). Old Man Warner criticizes other towns that have given up their lottery tradition and brags about how many lotteries he’s seen (255–56). The characters’ comments show the crowd to be more a close-knit community than a murderous mob.

4

The symbols of “The Lottery” seem equally ordinary. The stones collected by the boys (252) are unnoticed by the adults and thus seem a trivial detail. The reader thinks of the “great pile” (252) as children’s entertainment, like a stack of imaginary coins, rather than an arsenal. Ironically, no stones are ever thrown during the children’s play, and no violence is seen in the pile of stones.

5

Similarly, Jackson describes the box and its history in great detail, but nothing seems unusual about it. It is just another everyday object, stored away in the post office or on a shelf in the grocery (253). Every other day of the year, the box is in plain view but goes virtually unnoticed. The only indication that the box has lethal consequences is that it is painted black (253), yet this is an ambiguous detail, as a black box can also signify mystery or magic, mystical forces that are sometimes thought to exist in any lottery.

6

In her ambiguous descriptions, Jackson refers regularly to the village’s lottery and emphasizes it as a central ritual for the people. The word lottery itself is ironic, as it typically implies a winning of some kind, like a raffle or sweepstakes. It is paralleled to square dances and to the teenage club, all activities people anticipate under the direction of Mr. Summers (252). There is no implied difference between the occurrences of this day and the festivities of Halloween: according to Jackson, they are all merely “civic activities” (252). Equally ambiguous are the people’s emotions: some of the villagers are casual, such as Mrs. Hutchinson, who arrives late because she “‘clean forgot’” what day it is (254), and some are anxious, such as Mrs. Dunbar, who repeats to her son, “‘I wish they’d hurry,’” without any sign of the cause of her anxiety (256). With these descriptive details, the reader finds no threat or malice in the villagers, only vague expectation and congeniality.

261

7

Even when it becomes clear that the lottery is something no one wants to win, Jackson presents only a vague sense of sadness and mild protest. The crowd is relieved that the youngest of the Hutchinsons, Davy, doesn’t draw the fatal slip of paper (258). One girl whispers that she hopes it isn’t Nancy (257), and when the Hutchinson children discover they aren’t the winners, they beam with joy and proudly display their blank slips (258). Suspense and excitement grow only when the victim is close to being identified. And when Tessie is revealed as the winner of the lottery (258), she merely holds her hands out “desperately” and repeats, “‘It isn’t fair’” (258).

8

With a blend of character, symbolism, and description, Jackson paints an overall portrait of a gentle-seeming rural community, apparently no different from any other. The tragic end is sudden only because there is no recognition of violence beforehand, despite the fact that Jackson provides the reader with plenty of clues in the ample details about the lottery and the people. It is a haunting discovery that the story ends in death, even though such is the truth in the everyday life of all people.

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