The Caveman Effect / Point of View - Short Story Blog 1 (Week 5 I think. Don't quote me.) (The Lottery)

" 'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."

~ Shirley Jackson, The Lottery


Talk about a surprise ending. Being stoned to death was the last thing I was expecting to be the "prize" of the lottery. This story actually raised more questions than it answered for me though - why did someone have to be killed every year? Why stone them? When was the tradition established? Why was the tradition established? How are things "not as they used to be?" I don't know. I'm just really intrigued right now.

So this story focuses on point of view. It is in third person, so we see the actions of all the village people. I think this helps the story because it gives different perspectives and opinions of the ritual. Mr. Summers thinks it's necessary, Warner thinks it's evolved into something different, worse than it used to be, and Mrs. Hutchinson thinks that it is unjust and brutal (whether that is because she is morally sound or the victim, I am not sure).

This story reminded me of Lord of the Flies. I think it's all that primitivistic stuff - the rituals and brutality of people.