"The Lottery"

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" (1948) is a suspenseful story that leaves one pondering what the winner is going to receive as their "winnings" up until the very end. When a person thinks of a lottery, we tend to think that it will be some sort of fabulous prize. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. As the families gather and wait you can sense how much tension is in the air by the way the characters speak - or sometimes not - with one another. Idle chitchat and gossip to pass the time so they can get on with the whole process and get it over with.
When the black box is first mentioned, it gives one a sense that the whatever they may win may not be something that they want. A black box has never been known to hold something grand, generally it is something evil. Also, the black box that they use is made of old pieces of the original box which gives a sense of how old this tradition really is in this village. It must be something bad if no one wants to make a new box. They don't want to replicate the box, for fear that something even worse could happen if they did.
The paper containing the names are opened up with hesitation each time. Even Old Man Warner, who states he has been in the lottery 77 times, holds his breath until he hears his name. With the name "Old Man Wanner" it makes one think that he is quite knowledgeable of this whole process. He has been through this more times than any one else that is present and knows what this all means.
Shouts of unfairness are to be heard up until the very end. " "I think we should start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said, as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair." "(p. 410) It was like she had a sense from that point that she was going to be the winner, even though they weren't even through calling names. Sometimes in a lottery the winner can actually end up being the loser.