It's June 27th! Time to play... The Lottery

The New Yorker and YouTube ^ | 1948 | Shirley Jackson

[Ciaphas Cain]

1969 film adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic horror short story.

Click here

No doubt that Old Man Warner is praying he doesn't win again.

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TOPICS: Books/Literature; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: horror; literature; shirleyjackson; thelottery

[Ciaphas Cain]

It's almost been eighty years and we're still discussing and debating this story. What does it mean, what was Jackson trying to tell us?

[Jamestown1630]

I vaguely remember reading it in some high school English class in the 1960s. It was creepy.

Later, I thought it had something in common with a 1973 British film, ‘The Wicker Man’ - a REALLY gruesome movie.

I’ve never watched either again; I don’t need stuff like that in my mind.

[lefty-lie-spy]

I just saw The Wicker Man on Rumble for the first time last week. It’s a great movie. The ending is sad though.

I don’t know what movie we’re talking about here though.

[nopardons]

Read her bio and find out! :-)

[nopardons]

It has NOTHING at all to do with THE WICKERMAN; a movie I LOVE!

[nopardons]

To understand the ending, you need to read Julius Caesar’s works of Brit traditions. :-)

[clive bitterman]

When I read that story back in high school, I thought it was the silliest thing I’d ever read. I couldn’t conceive of anyone, particularly a woman, who could have such a negative view of human relations that out of the blue they could turn on each other for no other reason than “that’s the way it’s always been.” What kind of parents must she have had that such a concept could be in her head? And what publishing company would think it was worth publishing?

[Salamander]

Same.

Was not happy with my beloved Nick Cage’s remake though.

Totally ignored the historicity of the original.

(Matriarchy and bees? Nope!)

/even has the original TWM soundtrack CD and limited wooden box set

[Salamander]

Watch the movie of her story “The Haunting”.

Much scarier.

And you never see “ the monster”.

That’s even creepier

[lefty-lie-spy]

Thanks. I’ll add them to my list for next week during work. :)

[Jamestown1630]

They seem to have similar themes of a human sacrifice offered in order to ensure a good harvest and blessings.

[Jamestown1630]

How do we know all that was true, and not Roman propaganda?

[nopardons]

Remakes usually stink on ice, though there have been a few exceptions when the remake is superior to the original ( GASLIGHT and THE MALTESE FALCON ); however, I agree, the remake of THE WICKERMAN was horrible beyond belief!

[nopardons]

Not really; you absolutely have to read her BIO...it explains a LOT about her, her family, Vermont in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and her progression from light, frothy stories to the creepier ones that she is now remembered for.

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks; but I’m referring to the plots of the stories and the dialogue. Of course they are metaphors in her story, but they express similarly to The Wicker Man.

[nopardons]

Because now, there is archeological evidence for some of the things that Julius Caesar wrote.

True, there isn't any written, by them, evidence for Druidic practices; however, there are ancient Celitic stories, that though they have changed through the ages ( a la the game "TELEPHONE" ), regarding certain things.

Through ancient Roman writings, we DO know that the holy and oak trees were "sacred" to the Druids, AND even to this day, some aspects of Christmas and Halloween are STILL in practice today.

And then there's the newly found, OLDEST tales re Merlin, that are far different from the once oldest English and French versions.

[nopardons]

In THE LOTTERY, they did NOT pick young girls for sacrifice...it was ANYONE of ANY age, whose ticket was blindly chosen. And there was NO burning of said sacrificial person AND animals; unlike in THE WICKERMAN.

Neither was it a FESTIVAL...for the coming year/crops.

THE WICKERMAN used many ancient customs, such as MORRIS DANCERS, which for me, because I knew all about that, when I first saw the film, was WONDERFUL!

THE LOTTERY was actually far more about just HOW crazy/lefty and relatively insular, when Jackson lived there, was.

I read THE LOTTERY when I was quite young, fell in love with her style and then read EVERY book and short story she had written; but did NOT know about her first forays into writing, which were family and "happy" tale...until I read her bio. What a shock and an eye opener THAT was.