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On a warm day in late June (the 27th, to be exact), villagers gather in the square to participate in a lottery run by Mr. Summers, who officiates at all the big civic events.
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Children arrive first and begin collecting stones until their parents call them.
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Mrs. Hutchinson arrives late and chats briefly with her friend, Mrs. Delacroix.
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Mr. Summers calls each head of the household forward to a black wood box, where each selects a slip of paper.
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Once the men have chosen, Mr. Summers allows everyone to open the paper and see who has been selected
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Is Bill Hutchinson. His wife immediately starts protesting – so we get the sense that they're not about to win a million of dollars.
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There are five people in the Hutchinson family. Mr. Summers places five slips of paper into the box and each member of the family draws.
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Tess Hutchinson draws a slip of paper with a big black mark in the center. And that’s not good.
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The villagers advance on her, and finally we can see what the “prize” for the lottery really is: a stoning.
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Tess protests in vain as the villagers attack and kill her.
