English 11
During class, we'll find evidence to support the following themes in "The Lottery".

• The female identity is subverted in a patriarchal society. This is typically a definitive component of patriarchal societies, but considering this is in "The Lottery", what is Jackson's purpose?

- The wives have to walk behind the men

- Mrs. Hutchinson arrived late, doing housework

- Men have to draw for the families

• Society needs someone to blame in order to escape their own irrational thinking and guilt.

- Tessie blaming Mr. Summers for not giving her husband enough time to pick in the lottery

- Tessie dies

• Traditional values are blind.

- "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon"

- People are killing each other, even though the town population is already small

- Tradition of the lottery is exemplified by the black box -- black box is a symbol of blindness

- Old Man Warner is old so he should be wiser, but he's not because of his blind faith in tradition

• Mob psychology disempowers the individual.

- When Tessie is protesting the lottery, no one fights for her and everyone has a mutual consent to killing her

- The children still collect stones to be used later, even though they might not understand what is going on, they still follow

- The children were born where the lottery was the norm, so they don't see anything wrong with it

• Cruelty and violence can take place in any setting (peaceful and dangerous contexts alike)

- Usual functions take place in the same place as the lottery

- Presented as an ordinary town