THE LOTTERY

THE LOTTERY
SHIRLEY JACKSON
GENRE : HORROR FICTION
FIRST PUBLISHED : 1948

When I first read Shirley Jackson's chilling story "The Lottery", I was curious, almost uniformly bewildered and disgusted in the end. And maybe this unprecedented, unexpected shock the story presents before its readers, makes it a so very popular read. Although, when the story was released, it gave rise to a very strong avalanche of negative reaction and backlash, it is, with a number of literary devices, a story that is almost impossible to forget. Before you proceed on with the review, I would seriously recommend you to read the story, if you haven't yet. 

"The Lottery" takes place on a beautiful summer day, in a small rural village in America, where all the residents are gathering for their traditional annual lottery. Though the event first appears festive, it soon becomes clear that no one wants to win the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson seems unconcerned about the tradition until her family draws the dreaded mark. She begins to protest that the process wasn't fair. Tessie wins, and the story closes as the villagers—including her own family members—begin to throw rocks at her. Definitely not something I was waiting for. 

The story achieves its terrifying effect primarily through Jackson's skillful use of contrasts, through which she keeps the reader's expectations at odds with the action of the story. The picturesque setting contrasts sharply with the horrific violence of the conclusion. When the boys begin gathering stones, it seems like typical, playful behavior, and readers might imagine that everyone has gathered for something like a picnic. Like the peaceful setting, the villagers' casual attitude as they make small talk— some even cracking jokes—belies the violence to come. 

One of the starkest moments in the story is when the narrator bluntly states, 
   "A stone hit her on the side of the head."
All the villagers participate (even Tessie's son), so no one individually takes responsibility for the murder. And that, to me, is Jackson's most compelling explanation of why this barbaric tradition manages to continue. The story concludes with one of the most famous closing words in short story history,
    "And then they were upon her."

One of the major ideas of "The Lottery" is that of a scapegoat. The act of stoning someone to death yearly purges the town of the bad and allows for the good. The idea here, to sacrifice a single person for the sins of the society, can be looked as a metaphor. Beyond this literal idea is a more general idea that people need to have someone to blame or hate. The point being that by being able to simply heap all of their aggression onto one person they are able to free themselves of it for another year. The story, with Jackson's imagination, shows humankind a mirror - horrific truth. 

One part of the story is a dark satire when the old man recalls how the "tradition" is being going on for years. When a young man reminds him that other villages are quitting this, he exclaims-
   "Pack of crazy fools. Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves..."

The way how the Black Box, the stones, amd the black dot play an important role in depicting the horrors of the tradition is ingenius. Another fact which strikes hard is the issue of patriarchy. In a community so ingrained with the bug of superstitions, one can hardly expect it to have a feminist outlook.
   "Daughters draw with their husbands' families"

"The Lottery" is one of the most widely known stories in American literature and American culture. It has been adapted for radio, theater, television, and even ballet. The Simpsons television show included a reference to the story in its "Dog of Death" episode (S3).

"The Lottery" is, at its core, a story about the human capacity for violence, especially when that violence is couched in an appeal to tradition or social order. The way how tradition turns to violence is unexpected and hence scary. It is filled with symbolism, irony and a clear understanding of how to tell a story as well as willingness to embrace controversy.

Shirley Jackson