The Message of Social Responsibility in the Lottery We often paint a fabulous vision of life for ourselves and our children. Sometimes an author paints a frighteningly realistic picture of life and forces us to reconsider the fairy tale. In Shirley Jackson's short story, "The Lottery," every year a town holds a lottery in which the winner or loser, in this case, is stoned to death by his own neighbors. Tradition is supposed to support the social structure within the city, but to understand the true meaning of the story one must be able to read between the lines. "The Lottery" is the story of a city that has let its traditions go too far. Furthermore, it is clear that the story contains enlightening facts which lead me to believe that the author's intentions were not to write a horror story, but rather to shout at everyone to stop and realize that we have problems that we can and must address , which can make a difference in the lives of many people in our society. The author states that the lottery takes place every year in the spring. Flowers bloom and birds sing, but this hot city quickly becomes a dark, cloudy setting for a satanic event. This horrific ritual ends in bloodshed and death. In our society today, there are big cities that have beautiful parks and people usually keep them clean and nice... half the lottery... and this could lead to many more deaths of innocent people. The fact that there are places in the world today where immoral actions occur means that we, as responsible citizens, are not doing our jobs. The American people must wake up and learn to stand up for what they believe in. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. "The lottery." The Harper Fiction Anthology. Ed Sylvan Barnett. New York: HarperCollins, 1986. 862-868McQuain, Michelle. "Change only if interested." Hymn to friendship and other essays. Connie Bellamy, Virginia Beach: VWC, 1997. Walden, John. "Critical Essays by John Walden." Electric Library. http://www.elibrary.com/id/230/270/lid, 1996.