1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: show that flips through the pages of history to deliver 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Lucier and 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: today we're talking about The Lottery, Shirley Jackson's bracing depiction 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: of the banality of evil and one of the most 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: famously unsettling short stories in the American Canada. As a warning, 8 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: today's episode includes descriptions of violence, as well as full 9 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: spoilers for a story you really ought to read before listening. 10 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: The day was June twenty sixth, nineteen forty eight. Shirley 11 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: Jackson's seminal short story The Lottery, was first published in 12 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: The New Yorker. It was a shocking portrait of the 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: dangers of mob mentality and of following traditions without regard 14 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: for their consequences. Although highly controversial upon its initial release, 15 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: the Lottery was later reprinted and anthologized numerous times, and 16 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: is now considered an American classic. The story became a 17 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: mainstay of high school reading lists and has been adapted 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: for all sorts of mediums, including radio, ballet, a short film, 19 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: and a TV movie. Shirley Jackson's The Lottery takes place 20 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: on a summer day in a small rural village somewhere 21 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: in New England. All the residents are gathering for an 22 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: annual lottery drawing. Some families talk excitedly and tease each other, 23 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: and the kids seem positively giddy, but as the lottery 24 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: gets underway, the mood grows increasingly tense and it becomes 25 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: clear that no one actually wants to win. The drawing 26 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: is conducted by mister Summers and mister Graves. One by one, 27 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: they draw and announce a name from each family in town, 28 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: and then reveal whether or not their paper bears a 29 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: black spot designating the winner. Tessie Hutchinson is one of 30 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: the more gleeful spectators. She doesn't seem to mind the 31 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: tradition one bit until her family's slip is shown to 32 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: bear the mark. Then she suddenly changes her tune and 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: argues that the drawing wasn't fair. But her protests are 34 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: cut short when, as the narrator bluntly puts it, a 35 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 1: stone hit her on the side of the head. It's 36 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: not revealed who threw it because it doesn't really matter. 37 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: The rock is quickly followed by another and another, until 38 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: all the villagers have joined in. This is Tessi's prize, 39 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: to be stoned to death by her friends, neighbors, and 40 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: by members of her own family. Even her young son 41 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: is given pebbles to throw. The Lottery is known for 42 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: its gruesome twist ending, but Jackson unfolds the story mystery 43 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: slowly and skillfully. She builds a sense of unease in 44 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: the reader by establishing contrasts. The beautiful scenic setting is 45 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: at odds with the impersonal narrative voice, and our expectations 46 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: for a fun, festive atmosphere are undone by the looming 47 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: sense of dread that we find in its place. These disparities, 48 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: along with a handful of cryptic comments from the crowd, 49 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: let the reader know that something is amiss, but they 50 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: don't give away the full secret that's reserved for the 51 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: dark turn the story takes in its final moments, a 52 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: violent conclusion that pays off the story's menacing undertone while 53 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: still managing to shock the reader. By the time Shirley 54 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: Jackson wrote The Lottery, she was already an established writer, 55 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: with a published novel and several acclaimed short stories under 56 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: her belt. She was living in North Bennington, Vermont, with 57 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: her husband and daughter, and one summer day she came 58 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: up with the whole idea while struggling to push her 59 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: dog stroller uphill. The writing came easily, and she finished 60 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: the story that afternoon in less than two hours. Jackson 61 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: made a correction or two and then sent off the 62 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: manuscript to her agent the following day. Then just three 63 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: weeks after that, on June twenty sixth, nineteen forty eight, 64 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: the Lottery was published in The New Yorker. Written just 65 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: a few years after World War II and at the 66 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: dawn of the Red Scare, Jackson's story can be read 67 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: as a cautionary tale about blind conformity and the capacity 68 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: for evil that lurks in everyone. It shows that atrocities 69 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: can be inflicted as a matter of routine, so long 70 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: as enough people are complicit in them to make it 71 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: feel like no one is truly responsible. Many New Yorker 72 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: readers didn't appreciate the harsh intrusion of that real world 73 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: lesson into the pages of their favorite literary magazine, and 74 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: they didn't hesitate to let the editors and the author 75 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: know it. Hundreds of readers canceled their subscriptions and wrote 76 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: angry letters, denouncing the story in turn as outrageous, gruesome, perverted, 77 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: and utterly pointless. Some readers interpreted the story's rural setting 78 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: as an attack on the values of small town America, 79 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: while others mistook it for a real world account and 80 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: wanted to know how they could attend next year's lottery. 81 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: The New Yorker forwarded all this mail to Jackson, sometimes 82 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: as many as a dozen letters a day, and she 83 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: eventually had to upgrade to a bigger post office box 84 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: just to fit it all. Despite the volume of letters, though, 85 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: they all tended to fall into one of three categories, 86 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: which Jackson described as bewilderment, speculation, and plain old fashioned abuse. 87 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: The strong reactions caught the author off guard, especially when 88 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: her own parents joined in the criticism. It had simply 89 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: never occurred to me. Jackson later reflected that these millions 90 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: and millions of people might be so far from being 91 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: uplifted that they would sit down and write me letters. 92 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: I was downright scared to open. Of the three hundred 93 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: odd letters that I received that summer, I can count 94 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: only thirteen that spoke kindly to me, and they were 95 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: mostly from friends. Even my mother scolded me, Dad, and 96 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: I did not care at all for your story. In 97 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: The New Yorker, she wrote sternly, it does seem dear 98 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: that this gloomy kind of story is what all you 99 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: young people think about these days. Why don't you write 100 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: something to cheer people up instead. Jackson's genuine surprise at 101 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: the response seems to suggest that the Lottery was a 102 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: comment on the dark side of human nature in general, 103 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: rather than a rebuke of any specific community. And while 104 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: readers are still free to draw their own conclusions about 105 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: the stories meaning, it's worth noting that she herself weighed 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: in with her own view. In a nineteen forty eight 107 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the author said, quote 108 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: explaining just what I had hoped the story to say 109 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 1: is very difficult. I suppose I hoped, by setting a 110 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my 111 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: own village, to shock the story's readers with a graphic 112 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their 113 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: own lives. Jackson doesn't suggest as much herself, but I 114 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: think the backlash to the story is proof that she 115 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: achieved her mission. Many readers likely caught a distorted glimpse 116 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: of themselves reflected in the story, and because they didn't 117 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: like what they saw, they lashed out at the one 118 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: who showed it to them. At any rate, the controversy 119 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: would soon be drowned out by praise. In nineteen forty nine, 120 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: the Lottery was recognized with the prestigious O. Henry Prize 121 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: Stories Award, and in the years ahead it would be 122 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: reprinted in countless short story anthologies and added to school 123 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: curriculums across the country. The story was so successful that 124 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: for a time Jackson worried that it might overshadow the 125 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: rest of her work and she'd never be able to 126 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: top it. Luckily, that wasn't the case. She went on 127 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: to produce many more celebrated works throughout the nineteen fifties 128 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: and sixties, including two memoirs, dozens of short stories, and 129 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,239 Speaker 1: five more novels, among them nineteen fifty nine's The Haunting 130 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: of Hill House, which is widely regarded as one of 131 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: the greatest ghost stories ever written. That said, none of 132 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: her other works quite caught the public's attention or its 133 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: ire in the same way as the Lottery. To this day. 134 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: It continues to force readers to examine what kind of 135 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: bad behavior they let slide or even take part in 136 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: for the sake of tradition or a sense of belonging. 137 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: What are the forces in our lives that might prompt 138 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: us to turn on our neighbors. It's a question worth 139 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: considering if you'd like to avoid casting a stone yourself. 140 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: I'm gay, Blues gay, and hopefully you now know a 141 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 142 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: you'd like to keep up with the show, you can 143 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, 144 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free 145 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: to send them my way by writing to This Day 146 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to kazb Bias for producing 147 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 148 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in History class.