The Lottery is set in an idyllic place with beautiful nature and a peaceful atmosphere. It is portrayed through imagery such as descriptions of beautiful flowers and children running around (Jackson 1). Thus, the author has deliberately created an atmosphere in which people are busy with their day-to-day chores, and the subsequent sacrifice, seemingly, does not affect the village in the slightest.
First, children are being described as looking for stones, which only later becomes evident that the stones are necessary for the sacrifice. The villagers do not appear to be overly worried or trying to protest the lottery.
There is a distinction between the rest of the villagers and the old man (Warner), who does not understand why other nearby villages have stopped performing the yearly ritual. Warner believes that it is inevitable, and the tradition cannot be avoided (Jackson 2). This exemplifies that the lottery has been around for a long time, and multiple villages either share the same tradition or have just recently changed their way of life.
The man of the household is the one picking the piece of paper that ultimately becomes a death sentence for one member of the family. If men cannot do this, the son is to replace them. This illustrates the patriarchal values since the men are responsible for either saving or killing one of their loved ones.
The Lottery is a sacrifice performed yearly because of an old tradition that suggests this will facilitate better crops. However, the participants never expect the victim to be them, which is why the Lottery does not create worries within the community become the victim is known. Thus, the lottery cannot have winners since death is guaranteed, yet people are ready to follow traditions blindly without realizing the atrocities.
The author has chosen an innocent title and an idyllic atmosphere illustrated at the beginning of the story to allow the reader to understand that the community engaging in the ritual did not consider the deed a murder. The Lottery is a gambling game in which one loses, and one wins, and this is precisely how the blind followers of the old tradition look at it. No one realizes it is murder until they themselves become victims.
Works Cited
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. The New Yorker, 1948.