The Lottery – Shirley Jackson

The word “lottery” is likely to be paired with the word “lucky.” When you first
read the title of the short story “The Lottery” it seems like it’s light, assuming that
someone from the story will win a prize and become rich– unfortunately, in this story,
that’s not the case. Shirley Jackson, the author of this short story, is primarily known for
her works of horror and mystery genre, which is exactly what “The Lottery” is.

General behavior of people nowadays were shown in this story through the
characters and event itself. It starts in late June, where the skies are clear and sunny; a full
summer day, placed in a rural village. The villagers then assembled in the town square,
children– boys who collected stones and girls who just talked among themselves, and
men. Followed by their wives who greeted each other and exchanged bits of gossip. This
part already shows how deceiving humans are, greeting each other all nice then gossiping
as soon as the greetings are over. After this Mr. Summers, the lottery host whose name is
the same as the story’s setting, arrived in the square carrying a black wooden box, which
he placed down on a three-legged stool, his friend, Mr. Graves was carrying. The original
machinery used for the lottery was gone a long time ago, and the black box they have
been using has been around even before Old Man Warner, a seventy-seven year old man,
was born. Old Man Warner is proof that this lottery has been going on for decades. As
soon as everyone arrives, Mr. Summers starts the lottery. Men in the families were called
to draw their slips, apart from Mrs. Dunbar who drew her family’s slip because her
husband was unable to come. Old Man Warner and Mr. Adams talks about the north
village giving up the lottery. Old Man Warner disagrees in doing such a thing, he likes the
idea of this lottery, he says that there’s a saying about “Lottery in June, corn be heavy
soon” this is conveyed that without the lottery there wouldn’t be corn to eat, to harvest.
That the lottery is advantageous for all of the villagers, when in reality they just pick a
sacrifice annually. After everyone’s been called, it is revealed that Mr. Hutchinson got the
paper and one of his family members will be the sacrifice this year. In the end, Mrs.
Hutchinson was one who got the paper and is picked as the annual sacrifice, she’s now in
the center of the square, surrounded by the villagers who’s ready to throw stones at her
until she dies, before the story ends, she screamed “this isn’t fair, it isn’t right” and then
they were upon her.

This story wouldn’t seem dark until you read the end, as a reader I was also
deceived by it. Which is ironic because that’s the story’s main message, human deception.
How people will follow things even if it’s not fair and right because it’s tradition. It’s
been happening for so long that it’s now just usual. Even though it’s fiction there are
messages and events that are somehow true to life, the hypocrisy and the mistreatment of
others.