The Lottery by Shirley Jackson | Plot Summary

Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains the plot summary and analysis of Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery.

Download the free study guide and infographic for The Lottery here:

With deceptive simplicity, Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery slowly builds from an apparently banal scenario to one that illustrates the horrors that result from mindless groupthink.

The residents of a bucolic American country town gather for a ritual in which one of their number will be selected for symbolic slaughter.

As they exchange pleasantries and mundane observations, clues start to creep in as to the purpose of this sinister congregation.

Set during midsummer, a time of pagan significance with associations of both celebration and sacrifice, references to the stones that will be used to eliminate the unlucky scapegoat start to pile up along with casual references to past lotteries.

This is made all the more menacing by the participants' unthinking adherence to the barbaric tradition: occasional murder is as prosaic as Fourth of July fireworks to these people.

American writer Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery was first published in 1948. Jackson's eerie stories and novels explore abnormal psychology and domestic horror. The Lottery established her as a writer of Gothic tales and unsettling novels.

The short horror story includes many powerful symbols such as stones symbolizing an ancient and primal force, the black box representing a solemn tradition to which the town clings, and households symbolizing family units that determine the fates in the lottery. Important themes include conformity, tradition and ritual, and the banality of evil.


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[veevee]

i watched this minutes before my class tysm for making this it saved my grades

[johnfoster]

"....the horrors of mindless groupthink...." sums it up for me. Thank God for President Lincoln and all Abolishonists who went against the grain and took on--some to their own demise--the evils of slavery in the U. S.

[syrenblubs]

I needed this before my English test tomorrow

[steveharringtonswifey]

Budget squid game doesn’t exist, it cant hurt you

Budget squid game:

[ChrisMarcScott]

Just saved me a crap load of time reading this nonsense... THANK YOU

[sammi]

im doing an essay on the lottery as we speak, thank you thank you thank you

[eileenmaturana]

Hey guys, can you do The Handmaid’s Tale?

[elephantwaffle]

To anyone here, just read it. It's like a 10 minute read and engaging. The video took about half the time it took me to read it lol

[TONYRAMON]

Thank you ngga u saved me for my presentation

[La_False]

Literally about to take a test rn thx <3

[danrellcalumpong]

this video saved my literature subject. Thaanksss

[garytiptin]

Watch "The Dark Secret Of Harvest Home", based on Thomas Tryon's novel, "Harvest Home", for a similar concept.

[anotherrandomguy]

Hey Course Hero could you please make a summary vieo for THE MOVING FINGER by Edith Wharton!!

[sophiacruz]

anybody help me, i need your opinion about the story for my reaction paper

[imbored]

U saved me from having to read the entire thing, thanks 😅😪

[mvictoriape]

I want those videos to add them to my presentation🥲

[taytaylay]

Can some one help me can some one tell me 5 key events.

[faizakhalid]

Plz can anybody help me solving these quedtions