1948: Tessie Hutchinson, Lottery winner

ExecutedToday.com ^ | June 27, 2015 | Headsman

[CheshireTheCat]

June 27 — of 1948, implicitly — was the setting for Shirley Jackson‘s classic short story “The Lottery”.

Less an “execution” than a human sacrifice — the village old feller’s folksy “Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon,” evokes a primal flash of blood trickling off the maize-god’s altar — the titular event is an annual tradition for a tiny American town. Though unnamed, the town and some of its denizens were patterned on North Bennington, Vermont, where Jackson was living as the wife of a professor at Bennington College.

The setting was entirely contemporary to the story’s publication, right down to the day: it hit print in the June 26, 1948 edition of The New Yorker magazine. And what took Jackson two hours to write has continued to disturb and perplex generations of readers...

[CheshireTheCat]

I read this story in, I think, 5th grade. We didn't read it as a class. It was in our reader. I read it in class during some down time.

I'm not sure any other students read it. I don't remember anyone talking about it.

[Stosh]

” . . . some of its denizens were patterned on North Bennington, Vermont . . .”

I knew I’d seen Bernie Sanders somewhere before!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I read it in college, but have thought about it since. Enough to have created a link to the wiki article about it.

The Lottery

Shirley Jackson

[truthkeeper]

Have read it many times over the years. Shirley Jackson was a master of the short-story genre.

Another favorite is "Charles."

[meowmeow]

My favorite SJ is “We have Always Lived in the Castle.” That story still haunts my soul for some reason. Just the way she wrote it I think.

[SES1066]

What is TRULY scary, when thinking about this story, is how easy it is to ‘generate’ a scapegoat scheme. Multiple college psychology / sociology experiments have played to this theme, “Guards vs Prisoners”, “Blue-eyed People are Evil” etc. The longer the length of the experiment, the more ingrained the artificial judgement to the point where the professional organizations have basically banned the same.

Now we are seeing a petrie dish of this kind of thing in action on our streets! Mobs are actively searching for targets, regardless of validity. The Lottery was excellent in its low-level buildup as there is no preview of the outcome. Likewise today, we have no preview of this clash between tear-down activists and those who believe the ballot box is a better solution.

And yes, there is a difference between “The Lottery’s” bow where slips are drawn and the voting box where votes are put in!

[Tax-chick]

I liked that a lot, too.

[Deaf Smith]

The Twight Zone episod Examination Day (1985) may closer to times.

Each year, twelve year olds had to take a IQ test.

Those testing too high were eliminated from scocity.

[Fiddlstix]

I read that thing back in the 1950's when I was in high school.
Being that I was born and raised on a farm/ranch here in south Texas I took offense and still do.
The idiot who wrote it was talking about my friends and neighbors at the time.
County people are ready to help one another.
Only fool would write trash like that.

[SES1066]

Those testing too high were eliminated from scocity.

Compare that episode to Kurt Vonnegut's all too scary 1961 short SF, "Harrison Bergeron" set for an USofA in 2081. US Department of Handicappers ensures that no one is more able than the lowest minimally able. Pray tell, which is the most horrific dystopia?

[ClearCase_guy]

The funny thing about a lot of Science Fiction is how fast authors sometimes think time will flow. Flying cars by 1990. Colonies on Mars by 2000, etc.

Vonnegut saw enforced equality of outcome in 2081.

That’s a fairly rare case of time moving a lot faster than the author expected. We’re pretty much there already.