I would say that Tessie's objectives in the story change
as "the lottery" advances. At the start of the story, Tessie's objective is simply to
"not be late" and to partake in this tradition. She accomplishes this in standing next
to her best friend, Mrs. Delacroix, and even chats it up with Mr. Summers about her
tardiness. The next set of objectives she has is when her husband, Bill, has to redraw
because his family has been "selected." She protests to this end, arguing that the
drawing was not fair and that her husband was rushed in making his selection. Mr.
Summers politely rebukes her in arguing the "fairness" of the process and her husband
tells her to "Shut up," previewing the silencing of her voice which will take place
later on in the story. Tessie's final objective would have to be avoiding the fate that
has befallen upon her with her pulling of the piece of paper with the black dot on it.
To this end, Tessie again argues fairness as a standard, but with more vehemence and
intensity as she recognizes the implications of this. Her last words are testament to
this objective:
It isn't fair. It isn't
right.
With this, the crowd
seizes upon her with stones, confirming yet again that her objectives could not be
accomplished.
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