The Lottery

The Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson, is a tale of disturbing evilness.  The setting is a small 
village consisting of about 300 residents.  On June 27th of every year the members of the community hold 
a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate.  Throughout the story the reader gets an 
odd feeling regarding the residents.  Although they are gathering for a lottery drawing there is an air of 
nervousness about the event.  From start to finish there is an overwhelming sense that something terrible is 
about to happen due to the authors in depth use of foreshadowing. 
	The first hint that something strange is happening
 is brought to our attention in the second paragraph. 
 After Jackson describes the summer morning, she alludes to
 the children gathering in the Village Square, but they are
 acting quite strange.  "Bobby Martin had already stuffed 
his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed
 his example…eventually made a great pile of stones in one
corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of 
the other boys" (Text, 782).  The first question we must
 ask is why are the boys piling stones up in the village 
square?  At the very least we know that the stones will
 play an important role in the final outcome.  
	Each following paragraph contains subtle clues as
 to what is going to unfold.  After all of the children 
have gathered the men begin to fill the square, followed 
by all of the women.  "They stood together, away from the
 pile of stones in the corner" (Text, 783).  The fact that
 the stood away from the stones, again, informs the reader
 that the stones play some sinister role.  Nervousness 
amongst the people is evident due to the children's 
reluctance to join their parents standing in the square.
  At this point in the story the reader should have a 
feeling that the lottery being described isn't going 
to have a pleasant outcome for someone in the population.
  
	One particular line on page 784, in the last
 paragraph, gives the reader direction in realizing 
the lottery payoff.  The narrator describes 
Mrs. Hutchinson's entrance saying, "She tapped Mrs.
 Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make 
her way through the crowd."  The word "farewell" is used 
as foreshadowing to the climax of the story.  
Normally when a person enters a crowd of people they are 
greeted, but not Mrs. Hutchinson for she is obviously 
leaving.
 Nearer the climax the hints of foreshadowing almost give 
away the secret.  Old Man Warner says, "Bad enough to see
 young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody" 
(Text, 786), thus indicating that the lottery was no joking
 matter. It is obviously going to make a major impact on 
somebody's life.  The people knew that every year there was
 going to be a lottery, and they maintained a sense of 
humor to accompany their disgruntlement.  Engaging in the 
drawing was a necessity to them, and for reasons not 
discussed, they accepted it.   
	Another reference to the seriousness of the 
occasion is described when Mr. Summers (the lottery
 official) says, "Well now…guess we better get started, 
get this over with, so we can get back to work. 
 Anybody ain't here?" (Text, 785).  Once again it doesn't 
sound like the people involved are too anxious to find out
 who will be the "lucky winner".  When Mr. Summers begins 
calling names, the residents nervously present themselves,
 unaware of their destiny, to pull slips of paper out of 
the little black lottery box.  Nobody is to look at their 
slip of paper until all of the members of the village had
 drawn.  This action adds suspense to the story.
  The reader will not know what is about to happen until 
the very end of the story unless they have picked up on
 Jackson's strong use of foreshadowing.  
	The story finally begins to unfold as everyone 
examines the individual slips.
  "For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of 
paper were opened.  Suddenly, all the women began to speak
 at once, saying, 'Who is it?'…'Bill Hutchinson's got it'" 
(Text, 787).  Doomsday is upon the Hutchinson's, and the 
Missus is screaming and complaining that the lottery wasn't
 "fair".  Due to her actions the reader now knows that she 
is going to be the one, but what is unknown is the prize. 
All through the story the people of the town have been on 
edge due to this annual event about which the reader knows
 very little.  
	The stones that were mentioned in the first 
paragraph of the story now re-enter the plot and cause 
damage.  After all of Jackson's use of foreshadowing the
 reader finally finds out what the lottery "winner" will 
receive.  All of the members of the village go the pile of 
stones, pick up a hand full and stone Mrs. Hutchinson as 
she screams "It isn't fair, it isn't right"(Text, 789).  
	After reading the first 3 or 4 sentences of The 
Lottery it is evident that something very strange is going
 on in the tiny little village.  Shirley Jackson uses an 
abundance of foreshadowing which indicates, to a degree,
 what is about to happen to the winner of the lottery 
drawing.  There is at least one indicator within each 
individual paragraph, which lets the reader know that the 
lottery is sinister, and that the people of the town are 
not looking forward to it's commencement.