3. What Is the Ritual of the Scapegoat? in What Way Might Tessie Be Considered a Scapegoat?

The Lottery

Reading Questions

1. How does Jackson foreshadow the ending? Conversely, how does Jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town?

2. In what ways are the characters differentiated from one another? Looking back at the story, can you see why Tessie Hutchinson is singled out as a "winner"?

3. What is the ritual of the scapegoat? In what way might Tessie be considered a scapegoat?

4. What is the symbolism of the “black box”? Why is it battered?

5. Describe the point of view of the story. How does the point of view affect what we know about the situation? How does it preserve the story's suspense?

6. Is this JUST a story about this particular time and place, or is she trying to say something important about human nature?

7. What do you think the purpose of the lottery is in the village? Why do you think people continue to participate?

8. How did your initial understanding of the term “lottery” compare to the lottery in the story? How did your initial understandings help or confuse your interpretation of the story?

9. What elements of the story have a mythic quality?

10. To what degree, if any, do the people in the story enact or live by myth?