"The Lottery", written by Shirley Jackson, is a short story set around early 20th century in a small American village. Throughout the entire story Jackson plays psychological games with the readers mind. Jackson leaves clues and symbols all through the story; however, it could be easy for a reader to not fully understand the meaning until the end. This town is very traditional and set in their ways. Every year there is a ritual they call a lottery. The word "lottery" portrays positive thoughts to an everyday reader. However, the town's people do not see the lottery as a positive...
the children know exactly what to do once the "winner" is reveled, "The Children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles" 249. This makes no sense. Murder is murder; there is no good reason for killing an innocent human being, regardless of which century it is in.

Although, things were done differently in the early 20th century, most all morals are the same. Just because the culture was different, it still does not excuse murder, and playing God. Regardless of tradition, or if they completely understood what they were doing, the ritual is wrong.