Individual in society Can an individual change a large group of people? Can one person's effort be enough to break a wrong tradition practiced by a society? In most cases the answer would be “yes” and in others “no”. Many people try and succeed, but many fail, just like the protagonist Tessie Hutchinson in Shirley Jackson's short story “The Lottery.” When someone hears the word “lottery,” they might think that someone will be rewarded with a prize. But Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is different than you think. In the story, a lottery will be conducted not like Mega Million or Powerball which are played here. In the story, the person who wins the lottery is stoned to death instead of being rewarded with the prize. Tessie Hutchinson, the main character of the story, is the wife of Mr. Bill Hutchinson and also the mother of three brothers and a married daughter. Jackson presents Mrs. Hutchinson as a strong and rebellious character. Mrs. Hutchinson plays two different roles in this story. At first she enthusiastically participates in the lottery ceremony, but her character changes when her husband chooses the winning death lottery for their family. Mrs. Hutchinson is presented as a blind follower of ancient tradition, a strong rebellious character, and a selfish and careless person in society. At the beginning of one story, Jackson presents Mrs. Hutchinson as a devotee of the ancient tradition. When Mrs. Hutchinson arrives in a hurry to enter the lottery, she seems very excited. When she arrived a little late and said, “I forgot what day it was,” the people near her laughed softly (Jackson 904-905). Even though she didn't get to the lottery location in time, she couldn't refuse or stop following the tradition. ...... in the center of the paper ...... instead of one of his family members. Looking at Mrs. Hutchinson's character, one can see that there are many lies within society. Every person in society has a real face behind the mask. Furthermore, Jackson clearly presents the danger of blindly following society's tradition and selfishness. In this story, Jackson successfully portrays the life of an individual against society. Individuality stands no chance against a large group of people who blindly follow a tradition. Furthermore, an individual who wants to change society may never succeed until the end. To change the attitudes of a large group of people, an individual needs to be supported by a large number of people. Bibliography Jackson, Shirley. "The lottery." Literature for life. X. J Kennedy, Dana Gioia and Nina Reveoyr. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 903-908. Press.