People who play lotteries usually have very slim chance of winning. Winning is usually awarded with prices such as toys and money. The title of ‘The Lottery’ indicates a positive outcome when, in fact, the story is completely negative. The reward of the lottery in this story is negative. The Lottery is an ironic story about the violence, lack of identity or individuality in people, and selfishness

In the beginning of “The Lottery”, the author describes the day as being ‘clear and sunny and that the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green’. This setting is ironic, because the beautiful day ends horribly. The children piling smooth, round stone in a pile and adults staying away from it foreshadows the future event in the lottery. A young boy named Bobby stuffs his pocket full of rocks, an act that shows signs of violence even in the children of the village. At the end of the story, it said that the village forgot the ritual and the original black box, but they still remembered to use the stones, suggesting that the violence is more powerful then other things in human mind. Towards the end of the story, Mr. Hutchinson is picked to be killed, and people throw stones at her without thinking if it is right or not. Even though Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Delacroix knew each other and appeared to be friends, Mrs. Delacroix picks up the largest stone she can find and throws it to Mrs. Hutchinson when she is chosen in the lottery in the ritual. The people in this story kill people without asking any question because everyone else is doing it.  

In the short story, ‘The Lottery’, people have no identity or individuality in them. They follow whatever other people do, and think it is all right if other people do it. They keep the tradition simply because it has been the norm for a while. An example of this is Old man Warner, who remembered an old proverb that said ‘Lottery in June, Corn be heavy soon.’ This proverb suggested that the lottery was a sacrificial ritual for crops to grow better, yet he doesn’t know the meaning of it.

             When Mrs. Hutchinson discovers that her husband drew the lottery, her excitement of the lottery drains away. When her life becomes endangered, she selfishly tries to lower the odds of her getting the ‘prize’ by trying to sacrifice Don and Eva, Mrs. Hutchinson’s children, who are in another family. When Mrs. Hutchinson was picked, it was in a way ironic for Davy Hutchinson to throw pebbles at his own mother. Mrs. Hutchinson does not realize that the lottery is unfair until she is chosen to be killed. It is disturbing how the villagers didn’t know the ritual, and did not have the original black box, but just remember to throw stones at the person who was picked.

             The short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is a short story full of themes, symbolism, and irony. The author portrays the violence, lack of identity or individuality in people, and selfishness in the story, and leaves the reader stunned by its outcome and its irony. Any reader would had expected that the winner would get something nice even with all the foreshadowing, but later learns of the truth behind the lottery.