THE LOTTERY PHENOMENON: AN INTRODUCTION TO SHIRLEY JACKSON’S ACCURSED SHORT STORY

Resumo

The present text wishes to present and discuss, at an introductory level, the history behind Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery. The story caused the most widespread public outrage in the history of the New Yorker, the celebrated American literary magazine in which it was published in 1948. The intention is to help readers understand the reasons and causes that have stirred such profuse resentment and awed curiosity towards this controversial short story and her obscure writer.