be heavy soon.”

We soon learn, however, that the lottery is a barbaric ritual in which an unfortunate person is stoned to death by the other residents. This is done to ensure a good harvest. Given that the story is set in the 20th century, one would expect the townspeople would know that performing a human sacrifice is not the way to guarantee a good harvest. Science is a better route to good crop yields. Carrying on this  outdated tradition blindly year after year simply causes unnecessary misery and suffering. A person dies each year for no reason and children are potentially left without a parent. Jackson's story invites us to think more broadly about putting human happiness ahead of traditions. 

Shirley Jackson uses her short story "The Lottery" as a thinly-veiled warning about the dangers of blindly following tradition.  Drenched in horror, the premise of the story depicts a small wholesome town full of kindly folk, who gather once a year to draw slips to decide who will be stoned to death in a ritual sacrifice game. 

The villagers stoically back the tradition of the lottery throughout the story, as Jackson provides details to show their support.  For example, they do not even want to change the accoutrement's of the lottery, like the black box, which is so battered it should be replaced, "but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box."

Jackson also reveals that the villagers' traditional mind-set is closed even to considering discarding the lottery:

"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."

Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools..."

Jackson uses the brutal lottery as a terrifying example of when tradition overrides common sense and decency.  There is nothing wrong with following a tradition; however, tradition merely for tradition's sake can lead to the worst kinds of injustice. 

A one-sentence description of the theme of "The Lottery" might be this: The story is about the sacrifice of one for the good of many. When we think of a lottery, we visualize riches, fame and fortune. We fantasize about all the things we could do if we just won the lottery. When the people in this story thought of a lottery, however, they had no pleasant fantasies to enjoy. They knew that the winner of the lottery was really no winner at all. That person would sacrifice his or her life so that the community might have a good harvest in the coming year.

Mr. Warner also says "Used to be a saying 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.'"  The theme of The Lottery is the mindless leming-like following of customs/traditions without questioning the purpose.

In one of the Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays, Education, he wrote of his philosophy of life, whose basis was the inner resources of the self and revelation from the divine presence of the soul.  Among the factors that Emerson felt worked against these resources of the self was what he termed "the opium of custom."  This phrase has a direct corollary to Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery."  For, its theme can be stated using this very phrase: Jackson's short story demonstrates the evil of "the opium of custom."

Because the lottery is a custom of the village, some people follow this custom unthinkingly, and they even go so far as to praise it.  It is held because, as Mr. Warner says, doing away with it would only cause trouble.  He snorts at any change,

"It's not the way it used to be....people ain't the way they used to be."

The lottery is also held with Mr. Summers in charge because he "has the time and energy to devote to civic activities."  And, there is a sense of the importance of continuing these activities.  Mr. Summers, who "waits with an expression of polite interest" until a villager finishes talking so he can say, "All right, folks,...Let's finish quickly."  Mr. Summers simply wants to finish so he can return to his regular routine.  Clearly, here, the citizens have become inured to the senseless and random cruelty of the lottery.  Indeed, they are drugged by "the opium of custom."

The unpredictability of life

All of the townspeople agree to participate in the lottery, but there is a general feeling of goodwill surrounding the event that suggests that no one really expects to personally draw the condemning paper. Flowers bloom profusely, the green grass creates a peaceful backdrop, and even Tessie Hutchinson herself arrives a bit late, explaining that she "clean forgot what day it was," her laughter that follows suggesting that she has no fear of being killed that day. The odds are definitely in her favor, but she is shocked when first her family is chosen and then she herself is determined to be the very unlucky lottery "winner." The lottery shows that even with the best odds, life can throw unexpected—and sometimes devastating—curve balls.

Human hypocrisy

Everyone gathers without complaint that one of the townspeople will die that day. They rationalize human death as a trade of sorts; sacrificing one person equates to a better harvest for everyone else. Tessie Hutchinson isn't an entirely sympathetic character because in order to save herself, she is perfectly willing improve her odds by tossing her married daughter's name into the odds now stacked more solidly against her:

"Bill," he said, "you draw for the Hutchinson family. You got any other households in the Hutchinsons?"

"There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance!"

"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else."

This is a low point in the hypocrisy of the town and shows that although everyone seems to be accepting of the idea of the lottery, the townspeople are really only willing to accept the terms if the horrific outcome falls to someone else. Thus, the story shows a dark side of human nature—a hypocrisy to complacently watch unfortunate events happen to others while believing this somehow improves one's own circumstances.

Tradition is clearly a major theme in "The Lottery." However, alongside this general point, it is worth noting that Jackson singles out one peculiarly nasty tradition for satire and condemnation: that of "scapegoating." Scapegoating was a tradition in several ancient societies, including Israel and Greece. In Israel, it was an actual goat, chosen by drawing lots in an annual ceremony, that was symbolically burdened with all the sins of the tribe and cast out into the wilderness to die. In Greece, the sacrificial victim was sometimes a man, who was chased out of the community by throwing stones. Most modern instances of scapegoating are more subtle and less violent than Jackson's literal version, but some are, perhaps, almost as cruel.

Another theme of the story is conformity. G. K. Chesterton once remarked that it is not possible to create a man by standing a sheep on its hind legs, but by standing a flock of sheep in this position, it is possible to make a crowd of men. The crowd of people in "The Lottery," apparently normal and friendly in other matters, blindly conform to this traditional instance of crowd-madness. Their conformity renders them inhuman and inhumane.

There are several major themes in "The Lottery."  One involves violence.  One of the reasons that Jackson wrote the story was to draw attention to the inhumanity of violence.  Jackson believed that society had become so used to violence that they were numb to it.  She wanted to use an extreme example to bring this issue out, hence the lottery winner being stoned to death.

Another theme is tradition, obviously.  While traditions are important in many societies, not all traditions are good ones!  Jackson makes the argument that some traditions are absolutely wrong and cruel and they should be abandoned.  Traditions are deeply rooted, however, and can be very difficult to change or to get rid of because they become a part of a community's heritage and history.  People get used to them, which makes them difficult to get rid of. 

Yet another theme is sexism.  What is odd in this story is that the women do not initially draw...the men do this, yet the women are able to pick once their family is chosen and be stoned to death!  There is the odd dichotomy of traditional female roles vs. women being fair game to be put to death by stoning!  Even the children are fair game. 

"The Lottery" is a story with many serious social/moral implications!