Notes

WHAT IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS STORY? This story is not a story about people, like Babylon Revisited: It is a story about the rituals and traditions which drive our society, many of them are done because that is how they have always been done. THe reference to lotteries in other towns? Not just one place, but evil is throughout society. Some places are getting better (giving up lotteries) but Old Man Warner disapproves of it.

WHY DOESNT THE VILLAGE HAVE A FORMAL NAME? - it could be any village: The lack of a formal name for the village in "The Lottery" makes it a symbol; the world seems much like the one we know.
We think that Jackson uses stoning as a metaphor for the innate savagery that can lurk beneath a modern, civilized façade.


Narrator: does not tell us what anybody is thinking. We only have little glimpses of what is going on in their minds, by N's observation
of what they do or say..

1. WHEN, WHERE AND WHY DID THE LOTTERY START? The villagers don’t know much about the lottery’s origin. Give several purposes it could have served in the beginning: a bonding ritual for the village? Good crops? Weather? Do the members have any choice? What if someone wants to leave the village?

2. WHY DOES IT CONTINUE? To preserve the tradition. Tradition is very important in small towns, a way to link families and generations. This tradition is reason enough and gives them all the justification they need.

3. WHAT ROLE DOES FAMILY PLAY IN THE LOTTERY
Family bonds are a significant part of the village and lottery, Family ties form the lottery’s basic structure and execution. In the town square, families stand together in groups, and every family member must be present. Elaborate lists of heads of families, heads of households within those families, and household members are created, and these lists determine which member draws from the box. Family relationships are essential to how the actions of the lottery are carried out. But as soon as it’s clear that Tessie has drawn the marked paper, for example, her husband and children turn on her just as the other villagers do, as Tess tries to foist the drawing onto her own daughteR and Mrs. Delacroix chooses an especially giant stone to throw at her friend.

THE BLACK BOX
The shabby black box represents the tradition of the lottery. The black box is nearly falling apart, hardly even black anymore after years of use and storage, but the villagers are unwilling to replace it. They base their attachment on nothing more than a story that claims that this black box was made from pieces of another, older black box. The lottery is filled with similar relics from the past that have supposedly been passed down from earlier days, such as the creation of family lists and use of stones. These are part of the tradition, from which no one wants to deviate—the lottery must take place in just this way because this is how it’s always been done. However, other lottery traditions have been changed or forgotten.

A lot of things have changed, but the murder which is the important part of the tradition remains..

When do we begin to feel that there is something wrong with the Lottery? Why?