Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”
Shirley Jackson was born December 14,1916 in San Francisco. She grew up in California, where as a young teenager began writing poetry and short stories. She attended college at the University of Rochester and withdrew after a year so she could practice writing. She then attended Syracuse University in 1937, met her husband Stanly Edgar Hyman. Together they started a literary magazine Spectre. After graduation in 1940 they moved to Greenwich Village. Shirley had stories published in The New Republic and The New Yorker. She had four children. In 1944 “Come Dance with Me in Ireland” was chosen as Best American Stories. In 1945 her husband was offered a teaching position in Vermont and they moved. Shirley continued writing while raising a family. She finished her first Novel The Road Through The Wall and in that same year The New Yorker published “The Lottery” (Friedman) Shirley Jackson had to what appears to be a normal life up to “The Lottery”. Nothing in her upbringing appears to hint at what may have driven her to write such a short story. During my research I discovered why she wrote “The Lottery”, what happened after she wrote it, what people thought of it, and how it changed her and her families lives. Shirley Jackson came up with the story on a warm June day in North Bennington,Vermont while running errands with her daughter. She remembers she was pushing her daughter up the steep hill in her stroller with her groceries (McCarthy). She put her daughter in her playpen and put her groceries away. She had stated in a lecture that she was able to write it beginning to end in one sitting without a pause. She put it down and after a few hours reread it and only made a couple corrections. She typed up the final draft and sent it to her agent the next day and was almost word for word as the original (Brennan). Her agent did not care for the story but it was sent to The New Yorker anyways. She wrote a note to Shirley Jackson that it was her job to sell the story not like it (McCarthy). One of the editors William Maxwell, felt the story was heavy handed and contrived. Thankfully the rest of the editors were in agreement and The New Yorker had only one request for a change to make the date the same as the month that it would appear. (Brennan). The fiction editor asked Shirley Jackson to enlarge on the meaning and what should the magazine tell people if they call or write in. She stated no, and that it …show more content…
Initially when The New Yorker wanted further explanation she stated it was just a story (McCarthy). “Later she had reportedly told a friend it was based on anti-Semitism, and another stated she was told that all characters were modeled on actual people in North Bennington (Franklin).” She told the Francisco Chronicle in July 1948 “I suppose, I hope, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story’s readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives(McCarthy).” I wonder if her initial response was true and after time it turned into a larger meaning.
Everyone was talking about “The Lottery” and made Shirley Jackson well known. Her publisher, Farrar Strauss rushed to publish a collection of her work, The Lottery and Other Stories. It was rumored that her publisher spread rumors sayings Shirley Jackson had used voodoo to break the leg of publishing rival making her sound like she was a witch (Cellania).
It was said however that she did like to read tarot cards and collected books on witchcraft and …show more content…
The Haunting of Hill House was made into several movies. In 2013 there was a discovered short story “Paranoia” that was published in The New Yorker. “The Lottery” was adapted for radio, television, film and even a ballet. “The Lottery” was also in an episode of The Simpsons. Many authors credit Jackson for giving them inspiration such as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, Richard Matheson, and Neil Gaiman.(Cellania). Who would think a short story that took two hours to write would produce all of this, it is incredible and
Shirley Jackson was born December 14,1916 in San Francisco. She grew up in California, where as a young teenager began writing poetry and short stories. She attended college at the University of Rochester and withdrew after a year so she could practice writing. She then attended Syracuse University in 1937, met her husband Stanly Edgar Hyman. Together they started a literary magazine Spectre. After graduation in 1940 they moved to Greenwich Village. Shirley had stories published in The New Republic and The New Yorker. She had four children. In 1944 “Come Dance with Me in Ireland” was chosen as Best American Stories. In 1945 her husband was offered a teaching position in Vermont and they moved. Shirley continued writing while raising a family. She finished her first Novel The Road Through The Wall and in that same year The New Yorker published “The Lottery” (Friedman) Shirley Jackson had to what appears to be a normal life up to “The Lottery”. Nothing in her upbringing appears to hint at what may have driven her to write such a short story. During my research I discovered why she wrote “The Lottery”, what happened after she wrote it, what people thought of it, and how it changed her and her families lives. Shirley Jackson came up with the story on a warm June day in North Bennington,Vermont while running errands with her daughter. She remembers she was pushing her daughter up the steep hill in her stroller with her groceries (McCarthy). She put her daughter in her playpen and put her groceries away. She had stated in a lecture that she was able to write it beginning to end in one sitting without a pause. She put it down and after a few hours reread it and only made a couple corrections. She typed up the final draft and sent it to her agent the next day and was almost word for word as the original (Brennan). Her agent did not care for the story but it was sent to The New Yorker anyways. She wrote a note to Shirley Jackson that it was her job to sell the story not like it (McCarthy). One of the editors William Maxwell, felt the story was heavy handed and contrived. Thankfully the rest of the editors were in agreement and The New Yorker had only one request for a change to make the date the same as the month that it would appear. (Brennan). The fiction editor asked Shirley Jackson to enlarge on the meaning and what should the magazine tell people if they call or write in. She stated no, and that it …show more content…
Initially when The New Yorker wanted further explanation she stated it was just a story (McCarthy). “Later she had reportedly told a friend it was based on anti-Semitism, and another stated she was told that all characters were modeled on actual people in North Bennington (Franklin).” She told the Francisco Chronicle in July 1948 “I suppose, I hope, by setting a particularly brutal ancient rite in the present and in my own village to shock the story’s readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives(McCarthy).” I wonder if her initial response was true and after time it turned into a larger meaning.
Everyone was talking about “The Lottery” and made Shirley Jackson well known. Her publisher, Farrar Strauss rushed to publish a collection of her work, The Lottery and Other Stories. It was rumored that her publisher spread rumors sayings Shirley Jackson had used voodoo to break the leg of publishing rival making her sound like she was a witch (Cellania).
It was said however that she did like to read tarot cards and collected books on witchcraft and …show more content…
The Haunting of Hill House was made into several movies. In 2013 there was a discovered short story “Paranoia” that was published in The New Yorker. “The Lottery” was adapted for radio, television, film and even a ballet. “The Lottery” was also in an episode of The Simpsons. Many authors credit Jackson for giving them inspiration such as Stephen King, Nigel Kneale, Richard Matheson, and Neil Gaiman.(Cellania). Who would think a short story that took two hours to write would produce all of this, it is incredible and