The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: Not so fiction at all...

 How would you feel if your life or the lives or your loved ones depended on a game? This is the main theme of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. This short story created great controversy by the time it was first published, mostly because of the truth it tells and how deep it pierces the common human behavior in society; the morbity and the pleasure felt when witnessing the ill and misfortune of others while you stand comfortably in your place.

This short story is about a small town where everyone seems to get along, the narrative is perfect in suggesting that everyone knows each other and seems to be eager to start The Lottery, a yearly event in which a person will be awarded with a prize, but is it precisely a good one...? A woman, a lovely wife and mother, takes her turn to get the paper and participate in the game, but she rejects to accept that she won. The great prize of the winner is the death of a person from that town in the hands of their own friends, neighbors and even family. The satisfaction it brings to the others to realize that death is not coming after them reflects how humans can be selfish, when it comes to live or die, the greatest and simplest of all our instincts, survival. However, the painful death suffered by "the winner" is nothing more that being beaten up to death with rocks. 

The representation of the town reflects the society and the people in it who are willing to do whatever it takes to save themselves, even if it involves harming others. The attitude and the positive feeling around such a nasty and despicable event suggests how sometimes seeing others' misfortune can make you feel good about yourself, and possibly realize what you have and appreciate it more. It is an aspect of our own personality that is not necessarily worth to emphasize, but it is true and I believe everyone has experienced a stage like that at least once in their lives. The Lottery is a remarkable piece of art, which success to represent several aspects of human beings, society and nature, even in such a simple setting as a small town and its villagers.

To read the full short story you can access the following website: http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html