Review: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

4 stars for The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

The Lottery is a short but deeply memorable story. It may be categorised as horror, but it is not one involved with supernatural effects, instead, it has got more to do with the dark side of human nature.

The original purpose of the lottery is a mystery. None of the characters in the story remembers or knows the reason for the lottery; why there is the lottery, what is the purpose of the lottery and when the lottery is started.

Every year without fail, the village people attend and go through this annual ceremony dutifully without ever questioning it because it is what they have been taught since young.

Perhaps if the people realise what effect and result the lottery is supposed to produce, they may all agree to abandon this traditional ritual for it is nothing but an ancient superstition.

Through this short story, the author attempts to challenge readers to examine the role of tradition in our lives and how it can lead us to continue to engage in ways that are cruel and inhumane.


Publisher: Perfection Learning
Publication date: 1 Jan 2007

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Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a memorable and terrifying masterpiece, fueled by a tension that creeps up on you slowly without any clear indication of why. This is just a townful of people, after all, choosing their numbers for the annual lottery. What's there to be scared of?

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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