Three thoughts
Shirley Jackson’s “The lottery” was a very interesting short story. When I was reading the title and first few paragraphs, I expected completely a different outcome than the story had. I always believed that winning a lottery would bring people fortune and happiness. However, in this story, the people who won the lottery ” became the most unfortunate people in the her town.
In the story, the attitude change among townsfolk before the lottery and after the lottery really shocked me. People were amiable and seemed to have close relationships with others before the lottery. They were playing together and joking around. Out of expectation, their attitudes changed tremendously after the lottery. They showed no mercy to the victim and treat violence as a delightful entertainment. Their brutality made them no better than animals; moreover, their dispiteous behaviors illustrated the fragility of humanity.
The last thought I had for the story was that the children in the story were the true sacrifice that the town had made for their absurd tradition. The children were supposed to be innocent and pure; they represented the hope and future of the town. However, the foolish tradition had made them become the accomplices of the murder by asking them to gather stones and throw them to victims. When children lost their innocence, they were never able to stand up and against the evil tradition; therefore, the town would lose its future.
I can kind of see where you were going with the whole children participating in the acts of violence. You are trying to say that since the children are the future, and they are doing these heinous things, the future does not look so bright. If this is, in fact, what you are trying to say, then I would have to agree and say that I, too, had the same interpretation of the role of the children in this short story.