Response to "The Lottery" and "Eveline"

Response #2 “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “Eveline” by James Joyce were the pieces that appealed to me the most. This could be because they were the first two stories that I read and by the time I got to the poems my attention span was dwindling away or because both stories have similar writing approaches. I can’t figure that out. I found “The Lottery” to be very eerie and disturbing. After I read it, I pictured M. Night Shyamalan making a creepy, dramatic film based on it. I think it’d be a good one. I can’t believe how much reading this affected me. Throughout the entire story I was trying to figure out what kind of lottery they were waiting around for. I was excited with anticipation to find out what they would win. I, of course, didn’t believe it to be stoning to the death. Who would? I figured they were going to win or receive some sort of special treatment. I guess, in a way the winner, or loser, rather, did get “special” treatment, but not in the positive sense. I believe the end came as such a shock to me because the dialogue and demeanor throughout the story led me to believe this gathering to be a friendly one. I was imagining a small town with small town-like folks gathering for a square dance or pie festival—that’s the kind of picture the story drew in my head. The conversations all of the characters had with one another seemed friendly and lighthearted—there was even a point in the story when everyone was joking and laughter arose. The author did a great at building a plot for an outrageous shock factor. In the short story “Eveline”, I was extremely disappointed at the ending. The author builds up great anticipation of her escape and she doesn’t even end up leaving. Her dad seems like a real jerk—I would’ve gotten the hell out of there. On the other hand, I do understand why she decided against leaving. I think guilt ate at her because of the promise she had made to her deceased mother. She had promised to take care of her father and