'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson (With Subtitles)

"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, written in the month of its first publication, in the June 26, 1948, issue of The New Yorker. The story describes a fictional small town which observes—as do many other communities, both large and small, throughout contemporary America—an annual ritual known as "the lottery." It has been described as "one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature."

Narrated by Jennifer Gill

[sgauden]

The moral of this story: Just because something is "tradition" DOES NOT make it right!

[nathansevers]

Came here for 7th grade ELA during quarantine, who else is with me.

[pooryorick]

As a retired teacher. I have read and taught this story over the years. I can give a few insights.
This story depicts an event that has been repeated probably millions of times in human history. It is about ritual and tradition followed to its extreme -- human sacrifice. Human sacrifice has been done in all cultures and at most times during history. The horror is created by setting human sacrifice down in a modern small town. It makes what happens to the characters more relatable. It's no longer something you read about the Aztecs doing. Suddenly it's people who could be your neighbors and friends. That is what makes it horrifying.
And it is also about blind adherence to tradition and about how easily a crowd can turn into a mob.
Those are all generalities, but if they point some student in the right direction, them I'm good.

[DistortedRainbows]

I just came to check out this story and there are a bunch of kids in the comments having to analyse it for homework so I'm just gonna leave my own analysis of the text here and maybe it'll help a future English student. I'll write it in a Q&A format.

What is the general theme of this story?

I'd say the general theme of this story is one of creeping dread and the idea that traditions and being part of a crowd can desensitise people to extreme violence or horror.

The story, for the most part, describes everyday scenes and interactions, and people discuss going back to work and having lunch after the mysterious "event", but the mood becomes more grim and tense as the lottery takes place. People fall into silence, lick their lips nervously, hold their breath... there is the sense that something is wrong but no one will outright mention it, leading you to nervously await the big reveal.

What are examples of foreshadowing in this story?

The first example is probably the boys gathering a big pile of stones. It's mysteriously not mentioned what the stones will be used for, but it seems like an odd thing to do.

The second is possibly the description of the old traditions surrounding the lottery being forgotten, making you feel that this event is ancient and ritualistic.

Later examples of foreshadowing are the villagers discussing other places banning the lottery and it being seen as a dishonorable and even "lazy" thing to do by the older villagers. It shows that this isn't a fun event and rather something that they feel is everyone's responsibility to undergo, letting you know that the event is unpleasant.

Plus, the fact that everyone gets very tense when drawing their own tickets, when the host and the first man greet each other they smile humourlessly, and people generally keep talking about "hurrying up" and "getting it over with".

What makes this story disturbing?

A lot... The normalisation of ritualised violence to the point where people focus on getting it over with so they can focus on everyday things. The fact that they're probably keeping their minds on those everyday things so that they don't think about the horror of what's actually happening.

The fact that the woman who "wins" is initially so casual about the event. She's perfectly happy to show up late to someone's stoning and chat to her neighbours and joke around as if it's a party, but then she gets chosen to be killed and her mood changes entirely.

The fact that people are so cheerful and friendly to Tessy but no one complains or stands up for her, they're happy to let tradition run its course and murder her. It makes it seem like all relations in this village are superficial. People will kill each other without a second thought, even people they seemingly like and consider as friends, even their own family.

The fact that they're giving kids pebbles to throw, teaching them how to carry on this deranged tradition and showing them that it's a normal thing to do.

The fact that Tessy's kids are laughing in relief because it's not them, even though they must know that one of their parents will die.

The idea that showing dissent to this "tradition", as other villages are apparently doing, upsets the villagers and even angers them, even though the tradition is objectively a bad thing and its purpose and meaning have been lost to time. People are uncomfortable with the idea of changing their behaviour or facing the idea that something they have "always done" is bad. No one wants to question the reasons and morals behind this event. In a way, everyone is scared of each other. No one wants to be the dissenter, everyone wants to blend in with the crowd and just "get it over with" unless they're the one who has to die.

What could this be a metaphor for?

Essentially any traditional form of behaviour that has hurt people. It covers the idea that people are fine with doing harmful things because that's how they've always been done and it doesn't hurt them personally. This could be applied to racism, sectarianism, homophobia... any form of ritualised and mostly unexplained prejudice. It can also be applied to the "mob mentality" and how people are more likely to behave violently and lose their own morals and objections when theyre part of a group. It could be applied to hypocrisy, when considering the character of Tessy and how she only thinks the lottery is "unfair" when it harms her.

As a last thought, another horrible thing about this story is that Tessy, even when faced with her own death, only wants to redraw the lottery and push that fate onto someone else. She doesn't want to end the suffering, she only wants it to not be her that suffers.

Alright, that's enough typing lol, I hope this is useful for someone out there.

[saigeelizabeth]

I swear I’ve listened to this 50 times none of what she’s saying is sticking i literally can’t listen

[kayleelomas]

I love this story. It's unsetttling and gets progressivly darker. Notice that before her family get the lottery ticket with the black dot she was happy and had no problem with the lottery only after she starts to object .

[arandomstartreknerd]

Everybody's in the comments talking about how they had to read this for homework but nobody's talking about how this probably inspired The Hunger Games.

[firstnamelastname]

When are we gonna start sharing answers??

[batsnbubbles]

damn everyone is here as a 7th grader and here I am as sophomore

[soapoperaslushy]

Lol who else is here cause its homework

[badah]

Everyone else is a teenager here for homework and having a miserable time but here I am at 35 listening to this for fun because I love the brilliant and troubled Shirley Jackson. Y'all know she wrote The Haunting of Hill House too right?

[fredddiespennnies]

I’m here for a college class... Now I’m questioning my education.. Fuck it, Tessie ain’t the only one getting stoned.

[cailoof]

I'm so glad this video is here because I don't think I would've been able to read this by myself-

[helenlauer]

so sinister . . . extremely well written, and the reader has also got the rhythm and mood that builds up the tension and ominous implication almost from the very beginning. This economic plain speech is a wonderful medium. A feature of the best American literature since the 1950s that I always appreciate.

[kelleyrogers]

I am 37 and am here just because Shirley Jackson was a mastermind and far ahead of her time. I can only imagine what people thought reading this in 1948! But I see most of the commenters are teens here for homework and now I'm upset because I would have loved to had this as an assignment in HS. I read 235 books my Junior year and never came across this. Never came across her until I was an adult. This story hopefully opens some of their eyes to the world we live in. Don't just take it for what it is. Think about all of the ritualistic and animalistic tendencies we have and do daily thoughtlessly. How self preservation is always all that ever matters. Tessie didn't want the end the lottery. In fact, she was happy and enjoying it and running late as if she showed up to a party a few min behind. She only cared when it was her household selected. Even then, she didn't want it to end, she just wanted it to not be her. The way her kids laughed and sighed with relief knowing it wasnt any of them but still were fully aware it was one of their parents. Making the children participate in this, anticipate actually from how they were there gathering stones at the beginning. It's what we still do today. Tik tok and Instagram, we shove it all in our children's faces and only have a problem when it finally brings terror to our own front door. I hope some of you take it for more than just face value. And then go read some of her other works because she truly was a genius in her field!

[aalx]

My mind went blank as I was reading this, from what I got in this story a women wins the lottery and gets stones thrown at her😭 WHAT IS THIS?? This was painful for me to comprehend

[noriakikakyoin]

This tab has been open for almost 3 days because 'I will totally get around to doing homework later'... 100%. Time to go back to doing anything but home work, anime time.

[taytaylay]

Anyone have to do this for ELA class for today during Quarantine ?

[thefloordan]

the story if you dont understand:
Each year there is a lottery and everyone is willing to take part and take a ticket, but the lottery is actually a sacrifice for crops and thats why stones where thrown at the woman lol.

[emma-mvtn]

i'm here for homework. this was absolutely painful to read.i don't think i've ever read anything worse. yea, it gets better for a sentence - but then it goes right back.