The Lottery (story)
"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in ''The New Yorker'' on June 26, 1948. The story describes a fictional small American community which observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", in which a member of the community is selected by chance and stoning, stoned to death to ensure a good harvest and purge the town of bad omens. The lottery, its preparations, and its execution are all described in detail, though what actually happens to the selected person is not revealed until the end. Jackson and ''The New Yorker'' were both surprised by the initial negative response from readers; subscriptions were canceled and much hate mail was sent throughout the summer of its first publication, with Jackson receiving at least 10 letters per day. The Union of South Africa banned the story because some parts of Africa still used stoning as a punishment. The story has been dramatized several times, including as a radio drama, film, and graphic no ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]