Essay Database

The Lottery By Shirley Jackson This is a disturbing tale of evil, set in a small village of about 300 residents. On June 27th of every year the members of the community hold a village-wide lottery in which everyone is expected to participate. Throughout the story we get an odd feeling regarding the residents. Although they are gathering for a lottery drawing, there is an air of nervousness about the event, an overwhelming sense that something …

…each individual paragraph, which lets the reader know that the lottery is sinister, and that the people of the town are not looking forward to it, even though they continue to cling to the age old tradition. I believe this story was adapted for an episode of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone”, and if not, it very well could have been. It has that strange, twisted quality that was so prevalent on that show.