The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Cultural Context “The Lottery” is sometimes seen as a protest against totalitarianism, a form of authoritarian government that permits no individual freedom. In Eichmann in Jerusalem(1963), political scientist Hannah Arendt(1906-1975) wrote about totalitarianism as it pertained to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. Here, she introduced the concept of “the banality of evil,” the potential in ordinary people to do evil things. Americans of the post-World War II era saw themselves as “good guys” defending the world against foreign evils. Jackson’s story, written scarcely three years after the liberation of Auschwitz, told Americans something they did not want to hear—that the face of human evil could look just like their next-door neighbor.

Questions for Discussion In what sense is the story’s title ironic? Which era and Where do you think “the lottery” takes place? Why do you suppose the writer has made this setting appear familiar and ordinary? Early in the story, the boys stuff their pockets with stones, foreshadowing the attack in the story’s conclusion. What other examples of foreshadowing can you identify? Take a close look at the author’s description of the black wooden box (para. 5) and of the black spot on the fatal slip of paper (para. 72). What do these objects suggest to you? Are there any other symbols in the story? What do they contribute to the theme of the story?

27 June the 27th of Nisan (the seventh month of the year in the Jewish calendar), was chosen in 1951 as the Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism Day. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, was murdered by an armed mob on 27 June, 1844.

Symbols in the story The box of Ten Commandments The Nazi Flag

Questions about Symbols What possible significance, beyond their literal meaning, might each of these items have: the village square, Mrs. Hutchinson’s apron, Old Man Warner, the slips of paper? What, if anything, might the names Graves, Adams, Summers, and Delacroix signify in the context of the story? Do you think these names are intended to have any special significance? Why or why not? What role do the children play in the ritual? How can you explain their presence in the story? Do they have any symbolic role? What symbolic significance might be found in the way the characters are dressed? In their conversation? What do you make of Old Man Warner’s saying, “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”?

The Interpretations When “The Lottery” was published in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker, its effect was immediate. The story, as the critic Judy Oppenheimer notes in her book Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson, “provoked an unprecedented outpouring of fury, horror, rage, disgust, and intense fascination.” As a result, Jackson received hundreds of letters, which contained (among others) the following interpretations of the story: The story is an attack on small-town America. The story is a parable about the perversion of democracy. The story is a criticism of prejudice, particularly anti-Semitism. The story has no point at all. How plausible do you think each of these interpretations is? Which comes closest to your interpretation of the story? Why?