Gibson, James M. “An Old Testament Analogue for ‘The Lottery.’” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 11, no. 1, 1984, pp. 193–195. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3831163.
This brief article focuses on the historical background of ritual sacrifices in different cultures and how these different traditions have been compared to the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson in “The Lottery.” It recalls the reader to the fact that Jackson herself refused to “explain” the short story, which shocked so many readers when it was first published (and continues to shock each new generation who reads it).
To Gibson, “The Lottery” does not parallel any historical account of ritual sacrifice more than a Biblical story of the fate of Achan, a Jewish man who betrayed his leader. This story, found in Joshua, also ends with a stoning. As his main body of evidence, Gibson simply quotes the whole sixteen verses of the Biblical story, making his essay perhaps a little more dense, yet still interesting.
Gibson argues that the two stories are so similar in story structure (he even ventures to speculate that Jackson might’ve been directly drawing inspiration from this story) but very different in the way they are framed. He argues that the frame is what makes these two stories such different reading experiences. While the Biblical story is a romantic narrative Gibson argues, “The Lottery” is full of irony. Does this make “The Lottery” a worse or better way to tell the story? Gibson leaves his readers to decide. His article is perhaps most useful as a resource for historical context on Jackson’s ideas of “The Lottery” and as a method source.
Yarmove, Jay A. "Jackson's 'The Lottery.'" The Explicator 52 (1994): 242-45.
Jay A. Yarmove’s article on “The Lottery” focuses on the allegorical significance of outside variables, such as the time the story was published, the time and setting within the story, and the names of the characters. Yarmove projects that Jackson’s story, published shortly after World War II, is reminiscent of the mindset of Americans that something as terrible as the holocaust “couldn’t happen here.” This belief is challenged when Tessie, an innocent character, becomes victim to a community execution, similar to a “microcosmic holocaust” in “The Lottery” (242). Yarmove also focuses on the date of the lottery within the story, June 27th. He depicts that this date was chosen because it is the middle date between summer solstice, June 21st, and Independence Day, July 4th. The significance of placing this date between the two holidays is to spectate the pagan undertones of summer solstice that reflects the rituals of the villagers, whereas Independence Day is a day to celebrate democracy, which is ironic in the setting of “The Lottery.” Yarmove suggests the names of the characters are full of hidden values besides irony, such as Tessie Hutchinson’s name, which may be an allegorical reference to Anne Hutchinson, a historical figure in 1638 who was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony due to her religious beliefs.