January 17, 2023 by Aditi Singh (’24)
As typical for Saratoga Springs High School students, I started off my freshman year with a unit on short stories in English class. Out of the numerous (and often grim) stories read in Mrs. Cole’s Honors 9 ELA class, one particularly caught my attention: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. For those who are not familiar with this gripping tale of a community (that operates more like a cult), “The Lottery” is about, as the title indicates, a lottery in which all town members are required to participate, but none wish to win, for the winner gets stoned to death by everyone else. Screams tight-knit town, doesn’t it?
When I first read “The Lottery,” I thought it was interesting and abnormal, but I didn’t consider it for too long and quickly forgot about it. I did not, however, forget the author; Shirley Jackson’s name remained in the back of my head. Two years later, that name resurfaced, and I decided to read some of Jackson’s other works, namely “The Intoxicated,” “The Daemon Lover,” and “Like Mother Used to Make.”
To preface, Shirley Jackson is a mystery and horror writer from the mid-twentieth century. I love mystery and horror, but mid-twentieth century not so much. Despite preferring newer works, I enjoyed Jackson’s writing. More accurately, I appreciated her work; reading more of Jackson’s writing helped me realize why she was part of the curriculum. Not only is Jackson able to capture her audience in mere paragraphs, but she keeps them hooked, and leaves them wanting more. Out of the three stories I read, not one ended definitively; Jackson left them up for interpretation. I constantly found myself asking, what next?
Along with a captivating story, Jackson simultaneously delivers relevant messages in her work. During freshman year, we analyzed how “The Lottery” was a warning against excessive group thinking, something people are naturally drawn to. “The Lottery” exemplified how losing individuality can lead to impractical decisions which harm the group rather than help it (case-in-point: stoning people to death for population control). Similarly, Jackson’s other works also contain messages still important today; “The Intoxicated” brings light on how teenagers are often overlooked as individuals who genuinely care about the world, and “Like Mother Used to Make” cautions against acting whilst being blind to others’ intentions.
Jackson uses a highly descriptive writing style, detailing every action taken by her characters. By doing so, she establishes a sense of anxiety in the characters, common throughout all three stories I read. This anxiety carries over into her message, urging the reader to recognize the issue presented and do something about it. Nobody wants to get stoned to death, watch the world get destroyed, or get kicked out of their own house–as Jackson implies will happen unless we act now.
I knew as a freshman that Jackson was a skilled writer (since we were quite literally directly told she was a skilled and influential writer) but reading more of her work helped solidify that belief. Her ability to combine complex characters, a startling story, and a major message into one small piece of writing is remarkable.