Tessie Hutchinson Character In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Essay Example

Having to follow old traditions because of the sphere of influence of one's community can most certainly lead to an unpropitious ending. That’s what happened to Mrs. Hutchinson. In the small village in which she lived in of only three hundred people, it is a long-held tradition to attend a lottery ceremony at which the person who randomly draws out a paper with a black dot, is the winner. However, the twist to the tradition is that whoever picks out the winning paper is the one selected to get stoned to death. Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery", illustrates the outcome of a character vs. society-oriented village that holds annual lottery ceremonies, with Tessie Hutchinson as the unlucky winner who, because of conformity to the tradition, is destined to get stoned. 

With the old and ongoing tradition the village holds, Tessie, like the rest of the community, must attend and be a part of the rituals to keep the tradition alive. This village has been holding annual lotteries for decades. Every single resident must be present for the ceremonies, including children. In fact, the routine of the ritual starts with them. Before everyone arrives at the square, the children get together and look around “selecting the smoothest and roundest stones,” (1). Jackson’s introduction of the stone collecting foreshadows and even symbolizes how the execution of the tradition will be done, and in what form of way. Digging deeper into the techniques of Jackson, it is ironic how the children, innocent and excited kids, are the ones used for the preparation of the violent ending. Moreover, anyone who is absent and does not participate puts family members at risk. Jackson uses a resident as a corresponding example where she writes, “Mr. Summers consulted his list. ‘Clyde Dunbar.’ he said. ‘That’s right. He’s broke his leg, hasn’t he? Who’s drawing for him?’” (3). Before starting the lottery, all the people check in with each other and are familiar with who is present and who is not. Villagers who are unable to participate put family members in danger because the responsibility of their drawing falls on them, increasing the chances of unfortunately winning.

Upon the turn of Tessie Hutchinson's family to pick out papers, Tessie is arbitrarily selected as the winner of the lottery. When it’s her family’s time to reach into the box to pick out the paper slips, to everyone’s luck, their papers are blank. Not so fortunate for Tessie, she is the winner. Another of Jackson’s strategies demonstrated with irony is that instead of desiring to win, people feel anxious because they may open their papers and see a black dot. Anyway, after Tessie’s husband and children reveal to the crowd that they haven’t won, “Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and forced the slip of paper out of her hand. It had a black spot on it,” (7). Being a resident of this traditional community means that once a person is arbitrarily picked to be stoned, there is no way of withdrawing from the situation. Tessie, who was introduced as a laid-back and relaxed character, demonstrated by Jackson where she writes, “they both laughed softly,” (2), is now suddenly in a distressed state, screaming, “‘It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,’” (7). Regardless of how she feels about the occurrence, she is unable to retract from the lottery due to the convention the community holds and now, it is revealed that she has the fate of being stoned; this change in expression is a result of the society she is part of. Something as little as a tradition one’s residential community follows can be the reason for unjustifiable consequences, such as death, therefore abiding by the rules and complying with the crowd is not always a smart idea.

Despite looking forward to the annual ceremonies, Tessie’s final year of participation arrives when it is revealed that she had drawn out the winning slip of paper. Shirley Jackson uses Mrs. Hutchinson’s drawing for the climax of the story because of the drastic change in her mood; she was relaxed and in a good mood when she was first introduced, but when announced that she is the winner, she began to desperately scream and disagree. Following old traditions and practices, or even following the crowd and not speaking up for what is unreasonable and needless has the impact of affecting an individual to the point of being the center of bad intention. Due to the fact that Tessie became the winner of the yearly lottery ceremony and the entire intention of the tradition of the village, she got killed. By following the crowd, one can get lost in it, and that was seen with Jackson’s example of Tessie.