Shirley Jacksons short story The Lottery presents the reader with a seemingly idyllic town that actually participates in a horrific annual ‘lottery’ event. The story can be considered as part of the horror genre, as the characters in the story blindly follow a tradition that involves a lottery in which the winner is actually stoned to death by the villagers. Throughout the story, Jackson masterfully creates suspense through the choice of words. The setting that Jackson depicts in ‘The Lottery’ uses imagery to trick the reader into thinking that everything is fine in the little village. Jackson foreshadows the violent demise of ‘lottery winner’ Tessie Hutchinson in the second paragraph of the story, noting that children, including Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, and that they eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against the raids
of the other boys (103). Jackson describes routine children’s activities of play and learning in a classroom, as well as the children filling up their pockets with stones which will later be used in the finale (335). Jackson continues to build the story by describing how all of the citizens of the village start showing up in the square and casually begin conversing. The story’s setting and date play a significant role in the plot development because it illustrates how mankind can behave in such a barbaric manner even in a setting of supposed mundane peace. American author Helen E. Nebeker analyzed and wrote an essay about ‘The Lottery,’ exploring the symbolism of religion and anthropological elements of the story, even correlating the time of summer to ancient rituals. The reader can assume that following a tradition blindly without questioning or understanding all details can be dangerous – even if it involves one’s very own loving neighborhood&