the lottery
...and women arrive, bringing with them a less jovial tone. The villagers make small talk laughing quietly amongst one another while at the same time maintaining a slight seriousness. Jackson makes some use of foreshadowing early in the story by mentioning the pile of stones and the way the older characters distance themselves from it. "They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed" (1). The observant reader is able to sense that something is not quite right about the atmosphere. These suspicions are confirmed come the end of the story when the reader learns that this gathering is part of a sick and twisted ritual in which members of the village draw paper slips from a box to select one member of the village. This person is then used as a scapegoat and is stoned to death to ensure a happy and profitable year for the village. There are indications throughout the story that a few people are beginning to believe that perhaps the tradition is not all that intelligent and rational and that maybe, the year can be just as advantageous if the lottery were to be given up. Mr. Adam's makes a remark that, ". . . over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery" (4) and that, "Some places have already quit lotteries" (4). It is apparent that there is a certain uneasiness people have about the ritual. It is human nature to feel guilt when one takes part in actions such as those illustrated in the story. Whenever the uneasiness begins to manifest itself in the form of people speaking out however, it is silenced by the voices of majority and tradition: Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's ever good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickenweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly. "Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody." It is ironic as the reader ...