In "The Lottery" the author, Shirley Jackson, takes her audience on a trip of deception and creates a shock ending that makes you want to cringe. There is no identifiable time setting for this short story, but when I read the essay I envisioned the story being set in medieval era. The story centers on a drawing being performed by the townspeople in the town square. .
The tone at the beginning of the story began pleasantly enough with the author talking about the wonderful weather and the rich, green color of the grass. She goes on to write about the children's laughter as they playfully gather stones into a pile. As the townspeople converge upon the square, the undertones of the piece begin to emerge and a more tense feeling comes to surface; the adults, as they arrive, change the feeling of the scene to a more serious one. A faded, damaged black box is then put in the center of the square. The townspeople's names are then read off a list and as their name is read they come up to the black box and remove a piece of paper from inside. No one is allowed to look at the paper they drew until they have finished drawing. The unlucky family head that drew the paper with a spot on it is then required to draw again, this time out of only his family. The winner, or should I say loser, who has the piece of paper with the black dot on it is then taken to the center of the square where they are then stoned.
I really enjoyed reading this story. The way she made you comfortable in the beginning with the pleasant tone she set and then using the objects that she used to create the pleasant tone to create the shock ending really grabs a hold of you. The children's gathering of the stones, which the reader implies as simply a childish game, is actually one of the preparations for the twist ending. "The Lottery" is a wonderful story in a very dark way. .
