Character Analysis of “The Narrator/Bill Hutchinson/ Mr. Summers” in “The Lottery”

The play that the group and I are performing is an adaption of the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson” the original story was wrote the same month it was first published on the June 26, 1948. When it was first published it caused a lot of outrage because of the chilling realization of what is the prize of the lottery. Her target audience was the whole population of people in the world. She wanted to show how people can become complacent and allow anything to go on if it is tradition. The way she structured the story was very effective because by the time the climax had come in the story the ending was shocking.

The group decided to do the lottery so; we had to make our own interpretation of the story. We started by each member brainstorming ideas for how to adapt the play. Rhonda and Lisa came up with the majority of the ideas. They decided to focus on the central characters of the play and give it an alternative ending. Everyone also contributed similar ideas from seeing the YouTube video adaption of the story. From the original story our group kept Tessie and Bill Hutchison, Mr. Summers, and Old Man Warner. We changed Mrs. Delacroix name to Cynthia Delacroix and added a narrator for the prologue. Also every character was given more lines to say in our adaptation.

My characters in the adaptation of “The Lottery” are Bill Hutchison, the Narrator and Mr. Summers. The narrator role is to give a background of the play in the prologue. In the play the narrator has no certain appearance. Bill Hutchison importance to this play is he is one of the mediators in the play and the husband of Tessie. He is a farmer so he is dressed up in a plaid top, blue jeans, and brown shoes. Bill is very nervous because he is indecisive on wh...

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...ole of Mr. Summers and keep my original parts.

In conclusion, working on the adaptation of the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was fun. Since there was not an outline version of the play we were able to be creative. The play was easier to adapt based on the open interpretation of the original story. In the adaptation I play the narrator, bill Hutchison, and Mr. Summers. The narrator reads the prologue and opening of the play. Bill Hutchison plays Tessie husbands and is a mediator of the main argument in the story. Mr. Summers is the overseer of the lottery and has the final say in abolishing the lottery. I learned that creating a play can be more fun than writing about one because it gives me and members of the group I was in to be creative.

Works Cited

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” The Lottery and Other Stories. New York:New York Times, 1948