The Lottery

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Illuminating snapshots of life - Rated
Many people are familiar with the story "The Lottery," but it is just one of many incredible vignettes of life filling this collection. It is hard to understand today why "The Lottery" originally provoked such a strong reaction, yet it still packs a punch for first-time readers. While it does have aspects of horror, the remaining stories are basically literary. "Flower Garden" and "After You, My Dear Alphonse" deal with racism and would seem to be pretty bold statements for the time period (the book was published in 1948); the latter story seems particularly groundbreaking because of the unusual perspective it provides. "Charles" is a humorous yet illuminating look at the behavior of children, while "Afternoon in Linen" is an important statement on why children sometimes behave as they do. Jackson is at her best when describing the disenchanted adult. The helplessness of women is an important theme in many stories; many of the women described here feel helpless and subservient to their husbands, their neighbors, and their community. "Elizabeth" is a fairly long study of how one woman's wishes and dreams remain unfulfilled in later life. The housewife in "Got a Letter From Jimmy" is thoroughly exasperated by her husband's feelings, and since she cannot speak her mind to him, she is forced to fantasize about killing him. In "The Villager" a woman spontaneously chooses to become someone else entirely for a few minutes, and most of Jackson's heroines spend much time contemplating what could have been. In "Of Course," the fact that a new family has a few unorthodox views builds an unbreachable wall between brand-new neighbors. The women in these stories are always wondering what other people think about them and worrying about what others will say about them. Even when a group of women try to do something good to help the less fortunate, it backfires on them in "Come Dance With Me in Ireland." When a female character vacations with her husband in New York in "Pillar of Salt," she soon becomes "lost," afraid, and desperate to return home. "Colloquy" is the shortest story in the collection, but its protagonist speaks for most of Jackson's female characters when she asks whether she alone or the whole world has gone insane.

My favorite story here is "The Daemon Lover." Herein, Jackson offers one of the most poignant, touching looks at loneliness, desperation, and fragility I have ever read. In the story, we spend a day with the protagonist as she prepares for her wedding, having become engaged just the night before to a James Harris. It is a depressing yet beautiful story, and I actually rate it higher than "The Lottery." The character of James Harris actually flitters throughout several of these stories, a phantom of sorts haunting several of Jackson's more memorable female characters.

Jackson deals with very serious subjects, and the illumination provided by her unusual perspectives on life is vivid and poignant. When addressing racism, she shows how even an individual with the best of intentions and good will can still represent an unfortunate racist attitude. In speaking to morality and social values, she shows how hard it can be for an individual to go against tradition and the community to do what is right. She offers powerful insights on child (and adult) psychology. Even the couple of stories I did not really "get" offered insight into the living of life. Readers should not expect a book of horror stories when they pick up this book. The stories can be maudlin and even depressing, but they are philosophical, psychological, and sociological rather than creepy or spooky.

Illuminating snapshots of life - Rated
Many people are familiar with the story "The Lottery," but it is just one of many incredible vignettes of life filling this collection. It is hard to understand today why "The Lottery" originally provoked such a strong reaction, yet it still packs a punch for first-time readers. While it does have aspects of horror, the remaining stories are basically literary. "Flower Garden" and "After You, My Dear Alphonse" deal with racism and would seem to be pretty bold statements for the time period (the book was published in 1948); the latter story seems particularly groundbreaking because of the unusual perspective it provides. "Charles" is a humorous yet illuminating look at the behavior of children, while "Afternoon in Linen" is an important statement on why children sometimes behave as they do. Jackson is at her best when describing the disenchanted adult. . The helplessness of women is an important theme in many stories; many of the women described here feel helpless and subservient to their husbands, their neighbors, and their community. "Elizabeth" is a fairly long study of how one woman's wishes and dreams remain unfulfilled in later life. The housewife in "Got a Letter From Jimmy" is thoroughly exasperated by her husband's feelings, and since she cannot speak her mind to him, she is forced to fantasize about killing him. In "The Villager" a woman spontaneously chooses to become someone else entirely for a few minutes, and most of Jackson's heroines spend much time contemplating what could have been. In "Of Course," the fact that a new family has a few unorthodox views builds an unbreachable wall between brand-new neighbors. The women in these stories are always wondering what other people think about them and worrying about what others will say about them. Even when a group of women try to do something good to help the less fortunate, it backfires on them in "Come Dance With Me in Ireland." When a female character vacations with her husband in New York in "Pillar of Salt," she soon becomes "lost," afraid, and desperate to return home. "Colloquy" is the shortest story in the collection, but its protagonist speaks for most of Jackson's female characters when she asks whether she alone or the whole world has gone insane.

My favorite story here is "The Daemon Lover." Herein, Jackson offers one of the most poignant, touching looks at loneliness, desperation, and fragility I have ever read. In the story, we spend a day with the protagonist as she prepares for her wedding, having become engaged just the night before to a James Harris. It is a depressing yet beautiful story, and I actually rate it higher than "The Lottery." The character of James Harris actually flitters throughout several of these stories, a phantom of sorts haunting several of Jackson's more memorable female characters.

Jackson deals with very serious subjects, and the illumination provided by her unusual perspectives on life is vivid and poignant. When addressing racism, she shows how even an individual with the best of intentions and good will can still represent an unfortunate racist attitude. In speaking to morality and social values, she shows how hard it can be for an individual to go against tradition and the community to do what is right. She offers powerful insights on child (and adult) psychology. Even the couple of stories I did not really "get" offered insight into the living of life. Readers should not expect a book of horror stories when they pick up this book. The stories can be maudlin and even depressing, but they are philosophical, psychological, and sociological rather than creepy or spooky.

beautifully crafted - Rated
Don't expect these short stories to be strong on plot. That isn't what they're about. They do, however offer the reader a disturbing perspective into the lives of single, lonely people in a land of rented accommodation, young married women who are not quite at ease with their circumstances and individuals out of synch with society, who seem to grow increasingly alienated as each story progresses. Shirley Jackson's writing is beautifully crafted and she is a master when it comes to incorporating tension and unease into the narrative. Her skill lies in her ability to penetrate the minds and thought processes of her characters, their motives, prejudices and insecurities. Yes, "The Lottery" is one of the more terrifying tales of this collection, but "The Flower Garden", although more mundane, has its own unique horror. These tales inhabit a world where the commonplace ever threatens to take on a nightmare reality. Uncanny!

German High-school seniors' reviews of The Lottery - Rated
J.E. Gotowos (teacher of EFL, German, and drama): I recently let the students of a senior high-school class I am teaching in Hamburg, Germany, read, discuss, and evaluate Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery. Here are the comments they came up with:

---------------- Charlotte Oszkinat & Katja Schnur: >> obscure and paralyzing << A strange story. Dark, sick, disturbing. Although it's quite obvious how everything will end, we enjoyed reading it. - And it definitely makes you think. ---------------

Fabian Schmid: I think the story is very awkward and strange. I had to read it for more than three times to get the message across. But I still can't understand why the punishment was the aim to reach. The old people wanted to keep the traditions up in their village. So they played the game. In my opinion it would be better to leave such traditions behind. But on the other side I can also imagine the fun it could be. To say it in one word: „strange!!!!!" -------------

Kristin Bernstein & Katja Lesche: A story overwhelming in its twisting at the end. Both of us won't forget the surprise and shock we got reading the short story "the lottery". The story shows how deep we are settled within our society and its culture. The story made us think about the normal values and norms of our society and how an unexpected twist could let them erupt in such a strong way. -------------

Christian Hamm & Cosima May: This book is absolutely boring.The story is quite strange. It creates in a way a dark atmosphere, but in a negative way. The story is to fictional and the whole action is described in a to detailed way. After you have finished the first page you already know the end of the story. The story is absolutely boring and if you are looking for a story with some tension in it „The Lottery" is the wrong book for you. --------------

Lisa Schwelien & Janeke Masanke: After all we liked it. We both have the opinion that the story is shocking. While talking about this shock-effect we agreed that it makes the reader think. We thought about how they stone people in the movie „Life of Brian". That was funny. But in regard to the fact that stoning people was a wide spread penalty in former times (it still exists in some countries), the story seemed critical to us. We reflected: Many people like sensation, to see how somebody is dying. We are not curios. The law says that a murderer can be executed so we are not curios watching him die. And when a simple lottery decides who has to die we are not curios either... ---------------

Daniel Andresen: I read the story just once. It was very hard to read, because it was so annoying to me reading this piece, that I had a problem to focus my mind on it. I can't remember any book I've ever read that was so annoying and headache causing. It is really an unforgettable book. ---------------

Fredj Ben Halima: The Lottery is as shocking and amusing as a good horror movie. I think this story is unique and no other story comes close. Although The Lottery is not my favorite book, I like it very much nevertheless. ----------------

Stephanie Hopfe & Anne Möller: The whole first part of the short story, "The Lottery", is pretty boring and keeps the reader in a lack of clarity about the ending of the story. Because of this extremely long beginning does the end achieves a dramatically and shocking size. ----------------

Julia Stripling & Anna Blechschmidt: NOT REALLY? The story „The Lottery" is too long and therefore too boring for the short content. It is difficult to draw conclusions between the story and reality. That is why it only should shock the reader by letting him feel the power of traditions and the society. The horror should never have an end but the identification with the characters of the story does not work. -----------------

Nina Moniac & Britta Requard: The Lottery is an eerily fascinating story full of growing, captivating suspense. The startling outcome will take your breath away. Still, the story sticks with you,, because of its undeniable underlying truth. Metaphorically, it demonstrates to us the high price society pays for a shiny facade: chaos keeps bubbling underneath, ready to break free and lash out. Society needs a vent to control atavistic human urges. This story will get you to think about the concept of civilization, and you as a part of it. ------------------

ONE THRILLING BOOK!! I LOVED IT!! - Rated
This story was one of the best stories I've ever read! I would recommend this book to anyone!! I LOVED IT!! Everyone in our English Class read it and had their own comments about this book which we discussed. The ending was the most STUNNING!! I liked the little humor it obtained also.