t are no exception to this rule. One of
Merriam-Webster^s dictionary definitions of black is ^marked by the
occurance of disaster^ . The black dot on the slip of paper
identifies the lucky winner of the lottery-the person who will get
stoned to death. No-one in town really knows exactly why it is a
tradition although they have some vague ideas. Old Man Warner alludes
that it was once said "lottery in June, corn be heavy soon".(276)
Ironically, even the oldest member of this village doesn^t even
remember the real reason behind the lottery. Although ^The villagers
had forgotten the ritual and lost the original box, they still
remembered to use stones" (278). Do people just pick and choose which
part of a tradition they want to keep?
On the eighth paragraph of ^The Lottery^, the character Tessie
Huchinson, comes rushing to the square because she ^clean forgot what
day it was^(274). This shows how easily a person can forget things. It
also alludes to the murderous ritual when Tessie exclaims ^wouldn^t
have me leave m^dishes in the sink^. Why would anyone who is
participating in a lottery have to worry about dirty dishes, unless the
prize was something dreadful. Tessie appears to not take the ritual
seriously, possibly because of the amount of people in the village or
the fact she has been desensitized to the violent ritual. It can be
assumed that Tessie doesn^t know very much about the history of the
tradition because the man who is ^the official of the lottery^,(274)
Mr. Summers, doesn^t remember the history either.
Mr. Summers, the official of the lottery, doesn^t know that there is a
^perfunctory tuneless chant ^(274) that he was supposed to sing during
the lottery or a ^ritual salute^(274) that he was supposed to use when
...