Shirley Jackson wrote "The Lottery" in 1948. It is a short story in which all the people of a village participate in a lottery drawing. One assumes that the village is located somewhere in North America. The fact that a Mr. Summers conducts the lottery, and that he runs the coal business, is the only clue the reader has with which to date the story.

Jackson writes how on June 27^th of each year, a lottery is held in the village square. All villagers physically capable must attend the drawing. Mr. Summers arrives with a black box containing blank slips of paper, one for each of the villagers. One of the slips of paper has a black dot on it. There is some discussion among the villagers about how the people, in a village to the North are giving up the lottery. But the prevailing views seems to be that since "there’s always been a lottery," that it should continue.

When their name is called, each villager steps up to pick a slip of paper out of the box. Mrs. Hutchinson is the one to pick the slip of paper with the black dot on it. This denotes her as the loser of the lottery. The reader is left with the visual of the remaining villagers picking up rocks with which to stone Mrs. Hutchinson. Her own husband and children are relieved not to have picked the infamous slip of paper and they are perfectly willing to take part in the stoning.