From her first appearance in the story, Tessie is shown to be a charismatic character. She shows up late to the lottery, but her absence doesn't go unnoticed. When she finally arrives, the crowd is said to have "separated good-humoredly to let her through", and some of the other villagers begin to let the others know of her arrival. When Tessie reaches her husband in the crowd, the following exchange takes place:
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Mr. Summers, who had been waiting, said cheerfully, "Thought we were going to have to get on without you, Tessie."
Mrs. Hutchinson said, grinning, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?" and soft laughter ran through the crowd as the people stirred back into position after Mrs. Hutchinson's arrival.
Her reply to Mr. Summers' comment and the laughter that follows, along with the crowd's warm welcome, all indicate that Tessie is a charismatic character. It can be inferred that she has a strong presence in the village, perhaps because she is the ideal "housewife" type in this time period, as her first line was in reference to being late due to the dishes needing washing.
Tessie Hutchinson is also an outspoken character. When things start to unravel for her, she does not stay silent, but rather tries to start a debate on the subject. In response to her family's name getting picked for the lottery, she seems to have trouble keeping calm.
"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."
The mention that Tessie said these words "as quietly as she could" shows that she was having trouble keeping her voice calm and even, balancing her panic with her need for the village's cooperation.
"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, and then set her lips and went up to the box. She snatched a paper out and held it behind her.
Tessie also handled further action with resistance in the above passage, indicated by her hesitation, her defiant look, and the word "snatched" to describe the way she pulled the paper from the box.
On the other hand, this also makes Tessie seem like a selfish character, because while she arrived at the lottery in good spirits and willing to carry on with the ritual, she does not take the same attitude when it is her and her family that are put in danger.
While this may seem like a perfectly reasonable reaction for someone in Tessie's position, it speaks to her character in that she had no doubts about going forward with the lottery when she was out of harm's way. We can infer from her initial arrival to the lottery, when she was laughing and grinning with the others, that she would have stoned anyone else if they were chosen.
This, paired with her outspokenness, means that she refused to speak up about the sadistic nature of the lottery not because she was afraid, but because she thought nothing of it until it was her own life on the line. Her only motivation to speak up was the possibility of harm coming to herself or her family.
Therefore, using substantial evidence from the text and making logical inferences and connections, we can confidently say that Tessie Hutchinson can be considered a charismatic, outspoken, and selfish character.
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