The words, the lottery, immediately bring to mind the conventional idea of a lucky jackpot-winner, but writer Shirley Jackson had a different image in mind when using these words to title her haunting short story. By manipulating this deceptive image, Jackson creates an abrupt and shocking ending, and sheds light on humanitys tendency to cling to meaningless rituals. In the story, the warm summer day, the childrens play, the casual chatter, and the air of suppressed anticipation of the village on the day of the lottery attune the readers expectations towards a positive outcome for the lottery.
The climax of the story i would say is when the drawing of the slips of paper is finished and the townspeople begin to unfold their papers with sighs of relief. The "winner" is declared as the Hutchinson family and ultimately after the second drawing Tessie is declared the "winner". I choose this part of the short story as the climax because this is when i began understanding that this was not a conventional lottery because in a conventional lottery people would be disappointed if they didn't win, not become relieved.
The short story feels very surreal because in what occasion would children be excited and gather for an a execution, the kids would even help of the setting up of the lottery, which took place annually. What made it very hard to distinguish was that how no one felt any emotion or remorse towards the winner of the lottery. The winner was stoned to death by fellow neighbors and people that lived in the same community.
Jackson knew that most peoples impression of the lottery is winning money or The setting is a small American town on june 27Th. A clear and sunny day surrounded by flowers that were blossoming and grass that was richly green. (Population of approximately 300 and growing) where the locals display a strange and somber mood, from which unusual things can evidently be observed, like children gathering stones, as they assemble June 27 for their annual lottery. The lottery was located in a square between the post office and the bank. When the reader first begins reading the short story it is very hard to predict that the stoning of someone to death will actually take place at the end of this story, that's because the first few sentences are describing a place where someone would normally have a family picnic on a nice day, not kill someone because of a draw. The effect that this setting has on the reader is that they are going to draw for a prize and it is some sort of a community fair or gathering.
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