Foreshadows and Suspense the Lottery

Many of the seemingly innocuous details end-to-end The Lottery foreshadow the violent conclusion. In the second paragraph, children put stones in their pockets and make piles of stones in the town square, which seems like innocent play until the stones true purpose becomes clear at the end of the business relationship. Tessies late arrival at the lottery instantly sets her apart from the crowd, and the observation Mr. Summers makesThought we were going to view to get on without youis eerily prescient about Tessies fate. When Mr. Summers asks whether the Watson boy will draw for him and his mother, no reason is given for why Mr.Watson wouldnt draw as all the other husbands and fathers do, which suggests that Mr. Watson may leave been last years victim. Jackson builds suspense in The Lottery by relentlessly refuse explanation and does not reveal the true nature of the lottery until the first stone hits Tessies head. We discover a lot about the lottery, including the elements of t he tradition that have survived or been lost. We learn how important the lottery is to the villagers, especially Old Man Warner. We go through the entire ritual, hearing names and watching the men come the box to select their papers.But Jackson never tells us what the lottery is about, or mentions any kind of estimate or purpose. She begins to reveal that something is awry when the lottery begins and the crowd grows nervous, and she intensifies the feeling when Tessie hysterically protests Bills triumphant selection. And she gives a slight clue when she says that the villagers still remembered to use stones. But not until the moment when a gemstone actually hits Tessie does Jackson show her hand completely. By withholding information until the last possible second, she builds the storys suspense and creates a shocking, powerful conclusion.