"Nancy and Bill, Jr., opened theirs at the same time, and both beamed and laughed, turning around to the crowd and holding their slips of paper above their heads." (Jackson, p. 221, sect. 65)
This line in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery I find particularly disturbing and yet perfectly normal. These kids are naturally glad to be alive, however in playing to the crowd by showing off their blank slips of paper it seems a callous act considering that one of their parents, in the end their mother, will be getting a death sentence. As in the rest of the story, there is an overwhelming sense of the everyday about this situation.
"All right, folks," Mr. Summers said, "lets finish quickly" (Jackson, p. 221, sect. 70)
Again, as in the first quote, there seems to be an everyday ordinariness about this line. A sense of this being just another chore to do, albeit yearly. In another way, there is also the feeling of wanting to hurry because they don't want to have to think about this for another year. To me, it felt eerie and cold.
This is such an interesting story. I did not expect it in anyway to be a lottery drawing a death sentence. It is so sad, and very grave. And I agree--It is SO eerie and cold that this type of lottery is a normal thing to the town, like a yearly chore. Creepy!
ReplyDeleteI think that's the true horror of the story. Not the stoning, which is terrible. It's how common place they treat this horrible tradition. Like mopping the floor or taking out the trash. Creepy indeed!
ReplyDeleteAdded to the fact is that the townspeople don;t really seem to know WHY they are doing it. They are following tradition, and their is even scorn for towns that have stopped doing it.
ReplyDeleteThe blind following without knowing the reason or background is frustrating to me. I know so many people who do that and they never want to question. Just follow. All the thinking has been done and you don't have to use your brain.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth, I'm sure I had posted to this blog before but I found no evidence of it now. I also found this sentence disturbing for the same reasons. It is odd and disturbing how these kids did not appear to be distraught at the thought of losing their mother and almost ready to participate in the practice. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThis story was creepy. How awful that a town does this for tradition. Sounds like the entire town is part of a cult. I do not understand how a town can all agree on such a horrible tradition.
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