Winning the lottery should be an exciting and joyful thing, but in "The Lottery" created by Shirley Jackson, winning the lottery in the story would be the most unfortunate thing for everyone because it is equivalent to death. The “Lottery” is a tradition for choosing a scapegoat, it has been practiced in the village for a very long time and is part of everyone's life. No one wants to question the tradition because they believe it would help them have a good harvest. A third-person narrator tells the story in a calm, natural tone. In the first sentence, "The morning of June 27 was clear and sunny, with the cool warmth of a summer day; the flowers bloomed profusely and the grass was richly green." (Jackson 1) A journalistic writing style is used. to make the story more realistic. However, this emotionless tone comes at the end, it shows no sympathy towards Tessie's death, making "The Lottery" a normal thing in nature. The event occurs in a small village and leads readers to imagine that it can take place anywhere around them, which is quite horrific. With a happy and peaceful environment at the beginning, readers do not expect anything bad to happen later in the story. This reinforces the shock and warning that Jackson wants to tell at the end of the story. Prizes are drawn randomly from a black box, and the color of the box indicates death. This tradition is even older than Old Man Warner, no doubt he became its spokesperson. “….the black box that now sits on the stool had been used before old man Warner, the oldest man in town, was even born.” With his surname, "Warner", having a literary warning meaning that warns the villagers not to forget the tradition because...... middle of paper ...... 1940s during the Second World War, when the United States was rife with violence and war. Shirley Jackson wants to use "The Lottery" to warn people that recklessly following tradition forces people to kill their own people, lead to destruction and perish. Indicates that the war is occurring in his time. It also highlights the fact that the United States was a patriarchal society, in which men held the power to make decisions and women had a lower social status. Tessie's final words "It's not fair, it's not right" represent the cry of a message from Jackson. It is wrong that people do not think about what they believe. Following traditional thinking and practices, barbaric acts are hidden in their lives. They cannot feel their cruelty towards other people in war and towards women. Women must be treated fairly in society.