The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - Book Report/Review Example

 Summarization essay on “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson “The Lottery” written by Shirley Jackson was first published in June 26, 1948 in The New Yorker. This short story of modern American fiction is known to be the most outrageous and haunting of all. The story beautifully points out how dangerous and treacherous traditions can be when followed blindly by people. The story starts on June 27 which is a perfect day to conduct the town lottery. The villagers of the town assemble in the square and as there are only 300 people, the ritual takes two hours to complete.

It is shown that children scamper around gathering stones, putting some of them in their pockets and piling them in the square as well. Men, women and families gather together waiting for the lottery to start. Mr. .Summers and Mr. Graves, the postmaster arrives in the square carrying a black box. Mr. Summer is responsible for administering the lottery as he is always willing to do a lot for the village and has ample time to carry this out. This black box he carries is not the original one used by their ancestors as it was lost even before the birth of old Warner.

Although this one is worn out and Mr. Summers recommend that it should be changed, nobody has the courage to deceive around the tradition. Nevertheless he is able to use paper instead of the traditional wood chips. These slips of paper are made by Mr. Summer and Mr. Grave last night and for safety locked in a coal factory owned by Mr. Summers. A list of all the people in the village is prepared and Mr. Summers is taken under an oath. Some villagers recall that in the old times, there used to be a song and salutation but these customs have been missing now.

Before starting the lottery it is assured that everybody is present. Tessie Hutchinson forgets that today was the day of the lottery and joins her family in haste; she is laughed upon by the crowd. Old Warner’s presence is assured too. The regulations of the lottery are repeated to the crowd. Mr. Summers will read the names of the head of the family and that person will come forward to draw the slip. As the individuals starts to do so he meets everyone and exchange greetings. Nobody is allowed to see the paper until everyone has had his turn.

When Old Warner is told by Mr. Adam that villagers of the north town might stop the lottery, he becomes agitated and says that this could guide them to primitives and would bring them trouble. Everyone look at their slips of paper as soon as Mr. Summers stop calling names. In a couple of minutes it is known that Bill Hutchinson has gotten it. Tessie protests that it is not fair as Bill was not given enough time to chose. Mr. Summers inquire if Bill has any other family units and how many kids does he have.

Bill says no as her daughter is married and draws with her in laws and he has three kids. Mr. Grave gets rid of the papers already in the box and put five slips with the name of Hutchison. As the family member comes to draw the paper they find out that Tessie has extracted the slip with a black dot. Everyone hurries up and run towards Tessie with their hands full of stone. She objects that it wasn’t fair but is stoned to death.