The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Winning the lottery is something most people are lucky to encounter and long to experience, but not the Lottery discussed in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Unlike today's lottery where one picks a couple of number and win millions of dollars, this lottery's prize is a gruesome death. The distress and anxiety felt in this short story can be experienced through its dark mood. Usually winning the lottery creates an atmosphere of excited energy, but that is not the case in this town. A sense of dread and suspense can be felt among the families as they pick the slip of paper from the black box. It is stated," They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed"(Jackson, 264). This quote revels the tense atmosphere the characters are in. When people feel uncomfortable or not quite in a joking mood, they tend to smile rather than laugh. They don't want to be rude, so they put on a smile to please others. That is exactly what these characters are doing. Readers can feel the dreary mood as the people gather around, trying to act normal, but knowing that no good is to come from what they are about to experience. The situation only gets worse when Mrs.Hutchinson is chosen. She becomes rather hysterical, but no one listens to her pleas and cries, they only circle around her and begin the sacrifice.
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