The title of Shirley Jackson's short story is called "The Lottery". Most people or readers would expect to win a lottery to be a good thing, but in this short story it is the opposite. If you win the lottery, you will be stoned to death. The title is also somewhat mysterious, as it does not reveal anything about the specific kind of lottery that the story will be focusing on, and this is why readers are curious and exited while reading.
Themes
Tradition and conformity [NAVN C]
The theme of tradition and conformity is explored both explicitly and implicitly in “The Lottery”. Tradition is indicated by the fact that the ballot box is very old, and the villagers are against replacing it: “no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” (p. 27, ll. 2-3). The villagers’ attitude reveals their respectful and even fearful attitude towards the custom of the lottery.
All villagers seem to agree to the lottery, as they willingly gather in the village square and patiently go through the process of drawing slips of paper from the box. This suggests that the lottery is accepted as a “given” in this society. Moreover, they go through with it although many of the original aspects of the lottery have been lost, and only Old Man Warner remembers that it had something to do with ensuring good crops: “ ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ ” (p. 29, ll. 43-44).
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