You Thought You Were Getting a Car?... Ohhhh

Lottery: any happening or process that is or appears to be determined by chance. This definition clearly fits the happenings in the story, but the common idea of what a lottery is involves money. With the title of the piece by Shirley Jackson being Lottery, one can reasonably expect one or more of the characters to win some grand prize. This, sadly, is not the case. Instead of having Ed McMahon show up on their doorstep with ballons and an obscenely large check, the people of the small town receive a shockingly intimidating welcome. The sight of hundreds of aggressive townsfolk advancing upon you quickly, rocks in hand, would be scary enough to probably make me pass out. So, the title is misleading because it leads the reader to believe that the prize at the end of the lottery will be one of a celebratory nature, not death.