Shirley Jackson (1919-1965) graduated from the University of Rochester and settled with her husband in Bennington, Vermont. She wrote novels and psychological thrillers, including The Haunting of Hill House, as well as articles for popular magazines.
"The Lottery" was published in The New Yorker of June 28, 1948; the issue quickly sold out, and the story prompted readers to send a storm of letters demonstrating their confusion, speculation, and even abuse. Many wondered why the writer would suggest that the average citizens of a New England village actually engaged in inhuman practices. Jackson responded to the letters in the July 22 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Explaining just what I had hoped the story to say is very difficult. I suppose, I hoped, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story's readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives (qtd. in Friedman).
Works Cited
Friedman, Lenemaja. Shirley Jackson. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1975.
Griffin, Amy A. "Jackson's 'The Lottery.'" The Explicator 58.1 (Fall 1999): 44. Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. Quinsigamond Community College.
Nebeker, Helen E. "'The Lottery': Symbolic Tour de Force." American Literature, 46.1 (March, 1974): 100-07. Reprinted in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Gale Group, 2001. Infotrac Web.
Whittier, Gayle. "'The Lottery' as Misogynist Parable." Women's Studies 18.4 (1991): 353. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. QCC Library, Worcester, MA. <http://search.ebscohost.com.ezqc.ez.cwmars.org:5200>
1. In interpreting the story one of the first questions to ask is, Who is the protagonist? We may think first of Tessie, but the story revolves around all the villagers, not only Tessie. If we think of the village as the protagonist, who or what is the antagonist? Why does the antagonist win? Do any of the villagers question the lottery?
2. Look at the central conflict as the whole community versus their unquestioning acceptance of a cruel tradition. Why is there so little struggle?
3. Give specific examples of irony in the story (cite the page). Look at the setting, the title, the attitude and dialog of the villagers.
4. The narrative point of view is dramatic or objective. The narrator presents no judgment of the characters and we do not know what the characters think, only what they do and say. Why is this type of narration appropriate for the story?
5. Why does Jackson present a primitive rite and transfer it to a small American town? How does the setting affect our interpretation of events?
6. Consider symbols in the story; for example, note the description of the black wooden box (paragraph 5) and the black spot on the fatal slip of paper (paragraph 72). What characters may be symbolic?
7. Interpret the theme for the story. You may consider these ideas: