The slips were stored overnight in a safe at the coal company. Summers, a town leader who officiates the lottery, had made paper slips listing all the families with the help of Mr. (Tess) Hutchinson makes an undramatic entrance and chats briefly with Mrs. We learn that this is an annual event and that some surrounding towns are thinking about abandoning the lottery. The village is small with about 300 residents, and they are in an excited but anxious mood. On a warm summer day, villagers gather in a town square to participate in a lottery. Here is a summary of the story, which will be followed by additional commentary. Many interpreted the story as an attack on the values of rural communities and "small town America." As a result, the story engendered an unanticipated avalanche of anger and criticism. So the scene was instantly recognizable to readers - especially rural readers - when the story was published, and they did not like the way that this particular story developed and concluded. These gatherings were usually organized by the city council and featured lotteries with modest cash-prizes to help lure people into their vehicles for the long drive to town. It was thought to be good for the businesses and good for the community. It was customary at that time for rural community leaders to organize summertime gatherings to draw people together in town centers to socialize and to frequent and support some of the town's business establishments. The setting was emblematic of "small town America" and many people identified directly with the setting and the gathering depicted. The setting for the story, a gathering in a small rural village, wasn't a fictional construct in America in the summer of 1948. It is important to have some historical context to understand this story and the negative reaction that it generated when it appeared in the Jissue of The New Yorker. You can also listen to the audiobook reading at the bottom of this page. Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery was published in 1948 and it is not in the public domain.Īccordingly, we are prohibited from presenting the full text here in our short story collection, but we can present a summary of the story, along with by some study questions, commentary, and explanations.
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