She is right in rebelling against her neighbors. The lottery is not fair, and even if it is traditional, it is cruel and frightening.
Tessie is also fearful and desperate, because she does not want to die. Jackson shows her fear and her desperation when she writes, "I think we ought to start over,' Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. 'I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him time enough to choose. Everybody saw that'" (Jackson). She is grasping at straws, trying to make sure the town does the lottery over and someone else picks the fateful slip of papers. She is afraid, just as anyone would be. Jackson uses the story and this character to show fear and violence as it is in our society. It is very easy for one person to turn on another, even when they have lived their whole lives together. Even her own husband tells her to "shut up" when she protests too much. Tessie is frightened, but she also represents the fear that lives in all of us - because we know that our neighbors and our friends could turn on us in a second if it meant their own survival.
References
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." Murry Bergtraum High School. 1 Feb. 1998. 16 Sept. 2005. http://mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us/cybereng/shorts/lotry.html
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