The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

from The Lottery and Other Stories

5 pages, eBook

Where I Got It: Full Reads

Story Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Shocking - Surprising - macabre

Summary:

This follows a small village as they take part in their annual lottery.

My Thoughts:

I remember being shocked by the ending the first time I read this. So much of the story is about traditions and the mechanics of the villagers of doing the lottery, that when you finally get around to the purpose of it all at the end, I hadn’t been expecting it at all. I was totally blindsided, but looking back there are plenty of clues along the way, perhaps I was just being optimistic and not wanting to believe it.

Quotes:

“The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.” -Shirley Jackson, The Lottery

“There was a great deal of fussing to be done before Mr. Summers declared the lottery open.” -Shirley Jackson, The Lottery

“‘Pack of crazy fools,’ he said. ‘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, nobody work any more, live that way for a while—There’s always been a lottery.’” -Shirley Jackson, The Lottery