The Lottery

The village square had a lot of significance in this story because it is where most of the story took place. One thing beyond the meaning of this would be that it is where they had been doing the lottery for many years. This could also mean that it is the square in which the "looser" is boxed in to get rocks thrown at. Mrs. Hutchinson's apron was what she had dried her hands off on could have signified bad luck for the up coming lottery. As Mrs. Hutchinson stated on page 407, "Wouldn't have me leave m'dishes in the sink, now, would you, Joe?" also shows that she felt as though her husband didn't want to tell her about the lottery because she was finishing dishes. Old Man Warner was just a negative old man that continuously was saying that it wasn't like it used to be and that he had been doing the lottery for 77 years. This shows how important the lottery is and that unlike other villages he believes it should continue. The slips of paper just go to show how the lottery is changing slowly and will probably one day be done in this village too. But as stated on page 406, "The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born." The black spot could also show that the person who gets it will get rocks thrown at them. This could be a signal of death.