Literacy analysis Authored by Shirley Jackson in June 1948, “The Lottery” is a short story and first in an issue of The New Yorker the same year. At the core of the story is a narration about a small town in the modern day world America in which “the lottery,” which is an annual ritual takes place. In the history of American literature, Shirley Jackson's "the lottery" has continued receiving acknowledgements as one of the most successful and famous short stories. As defined by several commentators, “The Lottery” is a chilling tale of traditionalism gone mad. For several decades following its publication, the short story has been taught in not only high schools but also colleges. It has also been a subject to many critical interpretations, with the most prominent one being “A Reading of Shirley Jackson's "the lottery" by Peter Kosenko. Kosenko took an economic interpretation of Shirley’s short story, which focused on the unequal …show more content…
He claims that the short story has a Marxist undertone. Just like other various critics, “A Reading of Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery,’” points to the smallest of details in Shirley’s work in an effort to furthering its claims. When Hutchinson forces Tessie, who is his wife, to allow the crow to see her lottery slip, Shirley says that it contained a black spot, which had been made with a heavy pencil by Mr. Summers in the previous night while at his coal company’s office (Kosenko, 1985). At the particular moment after the victim of the lottery is discovered, Shirley attaches a secondary clause, which helps the audience see the Mr. Summer’s coal business evil being transferred to the black spot located on the slip held by Tessie. The evil in Shirley’s text could be said as linked to a disorder in the materialistic modern day society organization, which is promoted by