"The Lottery" has many obvious themes and symbols as well as some that are not so easily observable. One of the main themes to this story is tradition and how it looses its meaning as time goes by. When the significance of a tradition or a ritual gets lost, it can be dangerous. The tone that Shirley Jackson uses in "The Lottery" is not completely consistent with the themes mentioned above. She uses a light tone, but there's a dark ending and a dark theme to this story.
             The main theme is how traditions that lose their meaning due to human forgetfulness can cause dreadful consequences to occur. In relation to the theme, the "Old Man Warner" is a symbol of tradition. Throughout the story, he laments on the dwindling traditional values of the new generation. This is evident in his statement about them when he says, "Pack of crazy fools Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them,"(Pg. 271) indicating that he thinks the lottery is a good idea simply because it is tradition. He lasted through seventy-seven lotteries in which tradition was upheld with supposed circumstance. He could not understand the younger generation's lack of traditionalism (Pg. 271).
             This brings up the next theme, which is people hate change because human nature is constant. "Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box,"(Pg. 269) this statement clearly shows the villagers' dislike for change. Even though "the black box grew shabbier each year,"(Pg. 269) the people resolutely held to custom. This also shows that though the lottery may be an immoral act, it is upheld by tradition and the peoples' unwillingness to any divergence in their customary lives.
             The theme is not entirely consistent with the tone that Shirley Jackson uses. The setting set by Shirley Jackson in the beginning of "The Lottery" creates a mood of peacefuln...