The Lottery

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is a classic! Read it and leave a comment on your thoughts. If you don't want to go out and buy a hardcopy, you can find it HERE. Without giving anything away, it is about an annual Lottery that takes place in a small village. Sorry. That's all I can give you without giving it away. Read it and leave a comment so we can discuss!

***SPOILER ALERT BELOW*****

The story is really jacked up. I think Suzanne Collins got many of her ideas for the Hunger Games from this story. So if you did't feel like reading it, I will tell you what it is about. There is a town that has a drawing every year, and whomever draws the black dot gets stoned. That's basically the gist. Throughout the entire story, it gives this imagery of a bright and sunny summer afternoon with wonderful townsmen and neighbors, but in reality the event is horrible, but because of tradition, these people continue the injustice. Even though this was written in 1948, I think it still applies today. In my opinion, Jackson did a great job depicting herd tendencies. Mrs. Hutchinson was the woman who pulled the fatal black dot, and while she was in the process of getting stoned, she cries out "its not fair". I'm left to ask, why didn't she say anything in the years past? Why is it when it happens to her she's speaking her mind? Is that what we do in our society today? Are we bystanders and just watch injustice occur and not until it happens to us do we stand for the cause? What do you think? What other messages do you see in the story?