This Is Our Essay
The story describes a fictional small American town which observes an annual tradition known as “the lottery,”in which a member of the community is selected by chance and stoned. The preparations for and execution of the lottery are both described in detail. Readers’ initial negative response surprised both Jackson and The New Yorker subscriptions were canceled, and much hate mail was received throughout the summer of its first publication,while the Union of South Africa banned the story.The story has been dramatized several times, including as a radio drama,film, and graphic novel. It has been subjected to considerable sociological and literary analysis, and has been described as one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature.
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.The people of the village began to gather in the square,between the post office and the bank,around ten o’clock in some towns there were so many people that the lottery took two days and had to be started on June 26th,but in this village,where there were only about three hundred people,the whole lottery took only about two hours, so it could begin at ten o’clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.The children assembled first, of course.School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play,and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands.Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones,and the other boys soon followed his example,selecting the smoothest and roundest stones Bobby and Harry Jones and Dickie Delacroixthe villagers pronounced this name “Dellacroy”eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys.The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys, and the very small children rolled in the dust or clung to the hands of their older brothers or sisters.Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children,speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed. The women,wearing faded house dresses and sweaters, came shortly after their menfolk. They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children,and the children came reluctantly having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mother’s grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother.The lottery was conducted as were the square dances,the teen-age club, the Halloween program by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities. He was a round-faced,jovial man and he ran the coal business, and people were sorry for him,because he had no children and his wife was a scold.When he arrived in the square,carrying the black wooden box, there was a murmur of conversation among the villagers, and he waved and called,“Little late today, folks.” The postmaster Mr. Graves,followed him, carrying a three-legged stool,and the stool was put in the center of the square and Mr. Summers set the black box down on it.The villagers kept their distance leaving a space between themselves and the stool and when Mr. Summers said, “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?,” there was a hesitation before two men Mr. Martin and his oldest son Baxter came forward to hold the box steady on the stool while Mr. Summers stirred up the papers inside it.
The primary lesson that can be taken from ‘The Lottery’ isthe danger of holding on to tradition or loyalty to a group at the cost of ethical and moral responsibility. All of the townspeople believe that killing someone every year is justified because that is the way things have always been done.
11HUMSS 3 GROUP 1
Leader:Jennie Rhee Lamorena(Create An outline,Introduction,Conclusion in Essay and Encode)
Members:
Angelica Lazaga
Sherlyn Naloagan
Princess Lopez
Mark Renzter Limon
Steven Lazaga(Make a Body In Essay)
Justine Leal
