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Jennifer Walker ENG 112 Summary/Critique “The Lottery” The story, “The Lottery,” features on a small town. The focus of the scene is on the tradition of the lottery held in the town each year. The author, Shirley Jackson, sets up the reader to believe something positive is going to happen. In fact, the lottery is a drawing that each family must participate in and at the end of the drawing, someone in the town, adult …

…assuring the outcome of the harvest is a symbol of rebirth as the crops are being planted. The time of early summer (as well as morning) is also symbolic of renewal. The children seem to be portrayed as the rebirth of the town. However, the reader is left to make their own determination as to whether the children will continue to carry on the tradition or will eventually stop the lottery all together. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**