The Lottery By Shirley Jackson: A Literary Analysis

One can see by examining the poetic justice of the murder at the end, and the foreshadowing of the strange murder weapons, the rocks, in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, that this story is a classic archetypal horror story. Firstly, one can see that when Tessie Hutchinson, the wife of Bill Hutchinson, was the only one late for the lottery, she wins the lottery, and then is killed. This is an example of poetic justice. Poetic justice, also known as Karma, is the fitting or deserving punishment or reward for certain actions. Tessie is killed by the town, through the luck of the draw. With the thought of the lottery repressed in her mind, and remembering at the last second, “Mrs. Hutchinson came hurriedly along the path to the square, her sweater thrown over her shoulders, and …show more content…
The rocks do eventually reappear at the end, as the murder weapons. Following Bobby Martin’s example, who, “already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones … eventually made a great pile of stones”(Jackson 1). This illustrates foreshadowing, as the purpose of the stones is not revealed until the very end, creating suspense and keeps the reader interested. This example of foreshadowing fits the classical archetype for horror stories, as it creates mystery, and helps to explain Tessie’s murder that occurs later on. A common archetype of horror stories, is strange murder weapons. Also found in The Lottery, the rocks are a peculiar murder weapon used to kill Tessie. By closely examining the literary devices used in The Lottery, one can see that it is an archetypal horror story. Tessie who did something wrong, is punished, and the foreshadowing of the strange murder weapons. These two aspects, that are common in horror stories, make The Lottery an archetypal horror