Delacroix that she forgot what day it was, only remembering when she looked out her window to see her family gone. At that point Tessie Hutchinson runs along the path leading to the square. Graves and the Martins for a while and then turns to the crowd. Even without the full ceremony, his position is endowed with significance and respect. Now the official greets each resident without a salute. In prior years the official performed a recital, described as a 'tuneless chant,' and saluted each resident who came up to draw a slip.

Summers records lists of heads of families, heads of households in each family, and members of each household. The growing population made it necessary to use material that would fit in the box more easily.īefore the lottery can begin, Mr. Summers substitutes slips of paper for the chips of wood used in the older tradition. Not wishing to upset tradition, the villagers never make a new one, although other aspects of the old ritual have been 'forgotten or discarded.' For example, Mr. The box has grown shabby with time, and Mr. The black box has remained in use for over 77 years, since before Old Man Warner was born. Summers stirs the slips of paper in the box. Martin and his oldest son Baxter help steady the stool while Mr. Graves, the postmaster, follows with a three-legged stool.

Summers, who runs the coal business and officiates at town social events, arrives with a black wooden box under his arm, and Mr. The men join the children, chatting casually and making quiet jokes, and the women follow, exchanging gossip. Several young boys begin to select smooth, round stones and pile them in the center of the square. The children, recently dismissed from school for the summer, gather first. On the morning of June 27 in a small village, 300 residents gather in the town square to participate in the lottery, which begins at 10:00 a.m.

Summary of the story the lottery