The Lottery

8 Pages 2120 Words

d breaking into “boisterous play” (255). The men are appeared as gathering together and talking about “planting and rain, tractors and taxes” (255). Finally, the women are described as “exchanging bits of gossip” (255), which is a common stereotype. Up to this part, nothing has been pointed out that anything out of the ordinary, which would reflect an ironic ending, has been mentioned. The reader is only given small hints about the unusualness of this town. Key buildings that surround the town square are mentioned but there is a failure to describe a church or a courthouse, which is common to most communities. There seems to be no governing body for this town such as a court or a police station and it is odd that these people celebrate Halloween but not Christmas, Easter or Thanksgiving. In addition, the fact that the children are building “a great pile of stones in one corner of the square” (255) is an impression that the children are working and are not gathering these rocks for enjoyment as most children would. In contrast to the first paragraph, these points might misconstrue the reader’s belief into a perfect world and make them consider that this town is now, not quite normal.
Very plain sounding names are given to the characters of this story such as: Adams, Warner, Dunbar, Martin, Hutchinson, etc. The Adams’ name is symbolic of Adam and Eve in their purity. It was they who spoke up about other towns that have given up the lottery. Their mention of it to such a crowd suggests that they see the evil in the lottery and disappro...