When Shirley Jackson published "The Lottery" in 1948, in the pages of The New Yorker, neither she nor her publisher could have guessed the response. According to Wikipedia, "many readers canceled their subscriptions, and hate mail continued to arrive throughout the summer." South Africa banned the story altogether.
What is so dangerous about the story? Is it that the brutality is committed by people very much like us, and not some foreign dictatorship? Remember that Miller's The Crucible was published some years after this, and was set in the distant past. This story seemed to take place yesterday.
Again, from Wikipedia:
Some have noted similarities to The Village and other popular movies/novels. Although Jackson's story was not the first of its type, its influence is undeniable. If you'd like to hear someone else read "The Lottery" to you, then listen to Maureen Stapleton. She's an actress, you know.
What is so dangerous about the story? Is it that the brutality is committed by people very much like us, and not some foreign dictatorship? Remember that Miller's The Crucible was published some years after this, and was set in the distant past. This story seemed to take place yesterday.
Again, from Wikipedia:
Amid the optimism of the post-WWII years, when such issues as racism, torture, the Holocaust, child abductions, police brutality and serial killers were not regurgitated daily in the mass media, many readers of family magazines were shocked or confused by reading about the traditions and values of small town America twisted into violence.
Some have noted similarities to The Village and other popular movies/novels. Although Jackson's story was not the first of its type, its influence is undeniable. If you'd like to hear someone else read "The Lottery" to you, then listen to Maureen Stapleton. She's an actress, you know.