The Lottery

"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson that was first published in The New Yorker on June 18, 1948.^[a] The story describes a fictional small American community that observes an annual tradition known as "the lottery", which is intended 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 it is not revealed until the end what actually happens to the person selected by the random lottery: the selected member of the community is stoned to death by the other townspeople.^[1]

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.^[2] The Union of South Africa banned the story because some parts of Africa still used stoning as a punishment.^[3]

The story has been dramatized several times, including as a radio drama, film, and graphic novel. It has been subjected to considerable sociological and literary analysis and has been described as one of the most famous short stories in the history of American literature.^[4]

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