Dickie Delacroix is mentioned quite early in the story. He and two other schoolboys have "made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids of the other boys." He is, clearly, very excited about stoning an innocent person to death later, and it even feels like a game to him and the other boys, just like so many people who had no compunctions about crucifying Christ and attended the crucifixion as though it were some kind of spectator sport.
Mr. Graves, the postmaster, is quite intimately connected with the lottery's proceedings. He carries the stool on which Mr. Summers places the box. The pair of them, together, had "made up the slips of paper and put them in the box," and, between lotteries, the box is sometimes kept in Mr. Graves's barn or even the post office where he works. He is one of the people Mr. Summers talks to "interminably" just prior to the lottery. Mr. Graves even helps with the lottery once it is discovered that Bill Hutchinson has drawn the marked slip of paper. In other words, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves are the two people most involved in running the lottery, and their names seem to symbolize how the lottery might seem to readers versus how the lottery really is to the characters, respectively. Mr. Summers's name seems so light, just like calling this tradition "a lottery" as though it is something one would want to win, and holding it in the actual summer when the kids are happy to be out of school and formality seems to break down due to the heat. Certainly, his name seems ironic; we don't expect a summer season "lottery" to involve a person's violent death. Mr. Graves's name, on the other hand, calls attention to the deadliness of the tradition, even how serious and sober—or "grave"—a tradition it is. The people are somewhat grave on that day because they know how serious it is.
Bentham is only mentioned once, and very briefly as Mr. Summers conducts the lottery, calling out names one by one. The name probably refers to Jeremy Bentham, the philosopher who founded the concept of utilitarianism; he believed that an action is utilitarian when it benefits more people than it harms. By this definition, then, the lottery could be seen as utilitarian because it brings pleasure to all the people who are not chosen and displeasure to a few. However, it certainly seems cruel to the one chosen in the lottery, and this revelation, perhaps, ought to encourage us to consider whether such a trade is really ethical.
Delacroix in French literally means "of the cross." It's also the name of a famous French Romantic painter. In the story, there is a family called Delacroix, and by using this name, Jackson is possibly referring to the distorted nature of the village's ritual sacrifice. Jesus Christ, God's only begotten son, willingly sacrificed himself on the cross to save humankind. Yet the sacrifice of Tessie Hutchinson, in which Mrs. Delacroix plays such an enthusiastic part, is completely unwilling.
Mr. Graves, as postmaster, wields enormous power over the village, controlling its communications with the outside world. As such, he is the keeper of the flame, as it were, the man who ensures the survival of this twisted, diabolical custom. His name is significant because a grave is precisely where the "winner" of the lottery will end up.
Mr. Summers's name is somewhat ironic as there's nothing remotely summery about the grotesque ritual over which he presides. Nevertheless, the annual sacrifice does take place each summer, and so his name does reflect how closely involved he is with the lottery.
The name Bentham could possibly refer to Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He devised a moral and philosophical system called utilitarianism, which held that moral actions should be judged not in themselves or by their motivations but by whether they produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The lottery in the story could be seen as an example of this. The stoning to death of Tessie Hutchinson in itself is a wicked act, but the villagers involved in her ritual murder genuinely believe that it is all for the greater good.
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