Poem Analysis: The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

1. The mood at the beginning of the story is warm and lighthearted. The morning of June 27th is described as “clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (1 Jackson). The atmosphere described at the beginning of the story is shown to be one of joy. Thus leading the readers to believe that the story will be cheerful and upbeat.
2. At the beginning of the story, the men are depicted to be ordinary and country like. The men get together and they begin to converse: “… surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain tractors. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed” (1). As they begin their conversations they talk about things any normal men would normally discuss. The men are also pictured to be smiling, exhibiting the pleasant mood described earlier in the story. This depiction adverts the readers’ attention to the normality of the characters and setting.
3. At the beginning of the story, the women are depicted to be typical mothers living in a tight-knit town. Joining the others, the women are “wearing
The characters that appear to have the most control over the town are Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves. Their authority is displayed through their involvement in the lottery: “The night before the lottery, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves made up slips of paper and put them in the box, and it was then taken to the safe of Mr. Summers’ coal company and locked up until Mr. Summers was ready to take it to the square the next morning” (2). Both Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are in charge of everything that occurs with the lottery. Not only do they host it, but they also look over the box throughout the year and change parts of the lottery that have been used for generations. The lottery seems to be a tradition followed for many years, meaning that those who direct it must have a lot of