THE LOTTERY INTRINSICS VALUES

a. Point of view

Point of view is perspective of the controlling narrative voice. This story is told by an objective point of view. The author is like a movie camera that moves around freely recording events. However, the author offers no comments on the characters or their actions. Readers are not told the thoughts or feelings of the characters. However, this point of view contributes the plot’s and character’s development; it provides the story to be ironic. The readers are brought to follow the narrator’s exposition, let them judging the story by themselves and at last create a surprising ending, in which after reading the whole story the readers will turn back to the first paragraph and realizing that the beginning of the story is full of suspense sense.

b. Characters and Characterization

Character is a creation and representation of fictional persons and entities, the characters in this story symbolize others quality. They are as follow:

* Tessie Hutchinson is a protagonist character who is sentenced to death by the community. Tessie in this story refers to Anne Hutchinson.

* Mr. Joe Summers, the official of the lottery mirrors to John Winthrop, a governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and a leader of an English Puritan to the New World, he was a respected political figure, he was criticized for his obstinacy regarding the formation of a general assembly in 1643. He is the one who judged Anne Hutchinson among community. The name itself represents a new time, a fresh start or a change. He tries to renew the paraphernalia -the device or equipment needed to do the lottery- but his intention is refused by the society. They agree to use the black box instead of the paraphernalia.

* Mr. Graves refers to John Eliot, a Puritan Missionary, who participated in the examination, excommunication and exile of Anne Hutchinson, whose opinions he condemned. Grave itself symbolizes death.

* Mr. Steve Adam in this story refers to a perfect model of mankind in all their generations. (According to John Winthrop’s sermon page 41-42) We can see it from the paragraph 21, when he gets his turn to draw the lottery first, and also from the last paragraph, when he, “… was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves besides him.”

* Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, represents the one who always tries to warn the people not to drop down the ritual or their old tradition. Because he is as a Warner, although he has followed the lottery seventy times, he never gets his turn to be stoned to death.

All characters in the story represent their role in a society at that time and contribute the story to support other elements creating the irony.

a. Plot (a series of events or happenings that organize a text)

Exposition

The second and the third paragraph foreshadow the story on how the story will be ended. The second paragraph describes about the action of the children collecting stones. It shows just like all the children’s ativity is an ordinary thing of ‘collecting stones’,

“… Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones…eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square…”

As a matter of facts this part contributes the story creating the irony and giving certain description about the ending to the story that the people will use the stones to bring Tessie to death. The third paragraph also describes about the gathering villagers, standing together in the square, “Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children…soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call their children…” this part foreshadows the story on the way the ritual will be done. Until then we find that the ritual is has to be done by hitting the stones together against the one who got the lottery. Another foreshadow also appears in the ninth paragraph, “…She tapped Mrs. Delacroix on the arm as a farewell and began to make her way to the crowd…” shows that Mrs. Tessie is going to die and she still holds her belief strongly.

Rising action, climax, anticlimax and resolution

The rising action is showed by the conflict’s appearance. It is described when the lottery starts and the people are going to draw the lottery one by one in turn – represents by their heads of the family and when the lottery is chosen by Hutchinson’s family. Tessie as Bill’s wife feels that the way her family is being chosen is unfair. She tries to deny it by saying that Mr. Summers did not give Bill time enough to choose,

“I think we ought to start over…I tell you it wasn’t fair. You didn’t give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that.”

But still, the Hutchinson’s family members have to take their turn taking the lottery one by one. Finally the climax happens when the lottery is brought up to Tessie,

“”It’s Tessie…,” Mr. Summers said, and his voice was hushed. “Show us her paper, Bill.” Bill Hutchinson went over his wife and forced the slip paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it…”

The anticlimax of the story occurs when finally Mr. Summers commands to the entire of the townspeople to begin the ritual, “”All right, folks.” Mr. Summers said. “Let’s finish quickly.””

The resolution of the story is served in the last paragraph, when Tessie still feels that the chosen of her is unfair. She keeps denying by stating that this is unfair, ““It isn’t fair, it isn’t fair,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.”

The whole plot of the story plays the most important to contribute the story to be ironic.

SSetting (atmosphere, historical period, physical setting, or mood of text)

This story takes place in the morning of June 27^th. Jackson describes the story beautifully as it is stated in the first paragraph,

“…clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green…”

This part seems to be a beautiful day, but supporting by other elements finally we found that there is a horrible religious ritual held in the middle of the beautiful square.

Atmosphere or mood is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work or passage. Elements that can influence the mood of a work include setting, tone and events. Jackson creates the atmosphere at first peacefully and cheerfully, serves the readers to sense happiness. But then it creates a question that there must be something wrong in the people’s smiling, “…and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed…” the atmosphere also contributes the story to be ironic, when it is stated that everybody seems to be happy but as a matter of fact they tries to hide their nervousness. And still we can feel their anxiety,

“…and they both laughed softly.”, “…and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson’s arrival.”, “…They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously…”, “After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers holding his slip of paper in the air…”

At the end of story finally we found that the cheerfulness, the smiling and the laughing of the people is just another evasion of hiding and avoiding their suspense, fear, anxiety and nervousness. They keep pretending not to be worried about who will get the lottery, or in another word, who will be stoned next.

e. Style (a writer’s typical way of writing. Style includes word choice, tone, degree of formality, figurative language)

Jackson’s writing style is a type of horror and it also keeps the readers in suspense from the very beginning of the story until the end. Jackson applies her simple language, terms, word choice, and tone in her story to reunite the whole elements to create the irony. So the style in this story is served ironically, the readers might think that a lottery is such kind of an activity in which whoever will get it, she or he will afford presents or gifts. And yet this is true, from the beginning the story describes about the process of the lottery and finally comes to the one who gets the lottery. In this section is Tessie Hutchinson, she accepts her present, but the present is a sentence to death by the society.

. Figures of speech (various expressive devices used in lieu of plain prose for vivid depiction)

Allegory --parallel story with underlying moral or message

Symbolism --using inanimate or imagined things to stand for real situations

Jackson serves this story allegorically, in which the story itself refers to another story. It is like a metaphor in that one thing (usually nonrational, nonconcrete, abstract, or religious) is simplicity spoken on its terms of something that is concrete and usually sensuous, but the comparison in allegory is extended to include a whole work or a large portion of a work and is usually part of a whole system of equivalencies.

Simply literally, the lottery may be considered a symbolic story. It stands for – New England Puritanism or Original Sin. Although it is talking about a woman named Tessie Hutchinson, if we want to look closer, Jackson actually provides this story refers to a woman named Anne Hutchinson, who was struggled to change the old Puritan teachings by her own idea. Although there were some men and women follow her, as a matter of fact she could not able to fight against the society’s law.