#201 The Lottery- Shirley Jackson
Small towns sometimes have their archaic rituals, their
superstitions, their inability to change. This town, like many surrounding
towns, still use a Lottery to encourage a good harvest. “Lottery in June, corn
be heavy soon.”
As the story progresses, so does the wonder, the tension,
the anticipation of what the lottery actually is. We fear the worse, we learn
that other towns have abandoned such practices, that others are thinking about
getting rid of the lottery. Men stay steadfast, children get antsy, woman
plead, and in the end somebody gets stoned.
Some of the villagers carry small stones, some carry large
stones, but like the song goes…Everybody must get stoned!
“Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost
the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.” They always do, don’t they?
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