The main themes in “The Lottery” are the vulnerability of the individual, the importance of questioning tradition, and the relationship between civilization and violence. The vulnerability of the individual: Given the structure of the annual lottery, each individual townsperson is defenseless against the larger group.

By Shirley Jackson Jackson defers the revelation of the lottery’s true purpose until the very end of the story, when “the winner,” Tess Hutchison, is stoned to death by friends and family. This shocking event marks a dramatic turning point in how we understand the story.

The main conflict of this short story is character versus society because it is society that insists upon the continuation of the lottery as a tradition, and it is this tradition—upheld by society—which is responsible for the brutal end of Tessie Hutchinson’s life.

If Tessie is the protagonist of the story, we can identify the rest of the town—everyone who participated in the lottery process and her subsequent stoning—as the antagonist.

Mr. Summers is the town official who conducts the lottery and brings out the black box full of paper slips. Mr. Graves, the postmaster, brings the stool for the black box to the town square.

Why are the children happy? They have won the lottery. Their family has been chosen for the lottery. This is the town’s final lottery.

A short story set in Vermont during the 1940s; published in 1948. Members of a small town gather for the annual lottery, which seems like a festive event but is not. Its true purpose is revealed when Tessie Hurchinson draws the “winning” slip, and is stoned to death by her townspeople.