"The Lottery"
"The Lottery" is a short story written by Shirely Jackson. To begin with, the people of a small village all come together for an annual lottery to take place. All of the townspeople must attend and be accounted for including men, women, and children. It seems as if there is a lot of uneasiness as the annual lottery is beginning to take place, however readers do not know what the actual lottery is about until the end of the short story. In order to realize what may happen during the lottery readers must use foreshadowing context clues.
One way readers may notice foreshadowing is when the little boys of the town are gathering stones for themselves. "Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones;" These are the stones that the boys will use at the end of the lottery (457).
Lottery_Rena
I took this photograph of a lottery document I own
English: LotteryThese innocent boys have gathered stones and are protecting them from others, showing early signs of hostility and leaving readers to wonder what the stones will be important for.
The lottery conductor, Mr. Summers is accompanied by a Mr. Graves when the lottery is set to begin (457). The names of the two men are ironic to the story because the lottery takes place at the start of summer, and the lottery will end with one of the villagers in need of a grave. The writer uses a play on words to help foreshadow what will come.
In general, lotteries are not mandatory and are only for those whom chose to join. Instead, this lottery had to include everyone in town. As well as, when people are excited for things they become anxious for them to happen...