Meet the Cast
The Boys (Bobby Martin, Dickie Delacroix, Harry and Bobby Jones)
Boys Will Be Boys...?In a story this sparse, it's pretty striking how much the boys of the village tell us, not only about the nature of the lottery (consider that early, ominous pile of stones), b...
Mr. (Joe) Summers
Summerstime, and the Living Is EasyUnlike many characters in "The Lottery," we find out quite a bit about Mr. Summers. We know he's married to "a scold" and has no children. The villagers feel sorr...
Mr. (Harry) Graves
A Grave ManMr. Summers may act like he's the BMIV (that's Big Man In Village, for all you city-dwellers), but he still has to be sworn in by the mysterious Mr. Graves. Mr. Graves is never described...
Old Man Warner
Old Man, Take A Look At My Life"The Lottery" is about capital-T Tradition, the kind of tradition that "no one liked to upset" (5). Given how symbolic the other characters are—Mr. Graves, we're lo...
Tess Hutchinson
Dead Woman WalkingMrs. Tess Hutchinson stands out right from the start: she arrives at the lottery late, having "clean forgot what day it was" (8). The town treats her tardiness lightly, but severa...
Mr. and Mrs. Adams
First In LineMr. Adams is the first person to draw in the lottery, which makes sense alphabetically – but we don't think we're stretching too far to say that it's also because he's the first man....
The Delacroix Family
Enjoy DelacroixThe Delacroix family is in the mix right from the start. There's Dickie Delacroix, who gathers his stones with the other boys, there's Mr. Delacroix drawing his strip of paper, there...
The Watsons and the Dunbars
The Watsons and the Dunbars are both intriguing because Jackson specifies that their family arrangements break the father-as-head-of-the-family-drawing-the-lottery-papers norm. Mrs. Dunbar has to d...
Mrs. Graves
Mrs. Graves is the wife of Mr. Graves. She is a friend of both Mrs. Delacroix and Mrs. Hutchinson. She tells Tess frankly that the lottery is fair—after all, everyone took an equal chance.
Mr. (Bill) Hutchinson
Bill Hutchinson is the husband of Tess Hutchinson. When she protests his selection in the lottery, he tells her to shut up. It is unclear why he does so—maybe he believes in the lottery, or perha...
The Hutchinson Children
The Hutchinson children are named Bill, Jr., Nancy, and Dave. Nancy has supporters in the crowd who openly express hope that she's not the one chosen.
Baxter Martin
Baxter is the oldest son in the Martin family.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are the parents of Baxter and Bobby. They run the grocery store.