Shirley Jackson wrote “The Lottery” in 1948, not long after the Second World War. The horror of the Holocaust was still fresh in everyone’s minds. Jackson wrote this story to remind everyone that we are not so far from this world of sadistic human sacrifice. She created a town, very much like any American town, with the gathering of the towns people to celebrate some annual event. She wanted to shine a mirror on contemporary society, a reflection of humanity, or rather, inhumanity. One would thin