sizes. 

The title is ironic because winning a lottery usually means you get a prize, when in this case it means you die.

Irony is when the opposite of what is expected happens.  In our culture, a lottery is usually a good thing. The winner of a lottery gets some kind of prize, such as money.  We want to win lotteries.  They will make our lives better. 

The lottery in this village is not quite the same.  Everyone shows up for the lottery, but no one really wants to be there.  The first hint that something is wrong is that no one wants to go near the stool.

The villagers kept their distance, leaving a space between themselves and the stool, and … there was a hesitation before two men…came forward.

In this case, no one really wants to be part of the lottery.  Yet tradition dictates they do it, and tradition is so strong that they dare not change it.  The winner of the lottery is stoned to death, which is the opposite of winning a prize that makes your life better.

The title or the opening description in paragraph one might be considered ironic because they both give hints to the reader that this story is going to be a happy and fun story, which is the complete opposite of how this story ends.

Normally, a lottery involves winning something good. It might be money or a prize, but people participate in lotteries because they are hoping for the item being given away. Unfortunately, in this story the winner of the lottery is not getting anything other than a guaranteed death.

The opening paragraph sells to the reader a happy town gathering. It talks about sunny weather, green grass, and pretty flowers. Everything sounds like a Fourth of July town picnic. It sounds great. It most definitely doesn't sound like a gathering to raffle off which member of the town is going to die.

The famous short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson begins deceptively. The author describes a beautiful day, warm and sunny, with blossoming flowers and rich green grass. Villagers gather in the square for an annual event that sounds at first like a holiday. They will all participate in an activity and then be back home in time for noon dinner. Villages all over the area celebrate this occasion. The kids are just out of school and are in playful moods. Jackson points out that the same man who conducts the lottery also oversees other holiday programs.

Jackson misleads readers with this jubilant, festive atmosphere to heighten the shock when they discover the quiet horror of the lottery's real intention. It is not a carefree holiday, but rather a method of choosing a ritualistic sacrifice. One villager is murdered every year, supposedly to ensure a good harvest. The light, sunny, playful beginning creates a sharp contrast to the terrible ritual of the villagers killing one of their neighbors, and perhaps even a member of their own family.

Just as the lighthearted, festive beginning of the story is intentionally misleading, so too is the title. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the primary definition of lottery is: "A drawing of lots in which prizes are distributed to the winners among persons buying a chance." When readers see the title "The Lottery," they first think of games in which they can win money or prizes. Nowadays, people can win millions of dollars in state-run lotteries. In the early twentieth century, lotteries were games played mainly by poor people hoping to gain a few extra dollars. Jackson uses this misleading title so that the surprise of readers will add to their horror when they realize the person who wins this lottery does not win a prize but instead is painfully stoned to death.

"The Lottery" was published in 1948. In the opening paragraph, the narrator describes a scene that has all the appearances of a simple town meeting. In this opening paragraph, there is nothing threatening and the idea of a "lottery" to readers in 1948 and today would indicate some sort of contest in which someone or some people might win money. 

In the second paragraph, the narrator notes that the children were there first. Their new liberty of summer vacation "sat easily" upon them. This seems odd, but it could be interpreted as a simple transition from school to vacation. The piles of stones seem odd, but up to this point there is nothing to suggest anything sinister about them. 

"The lottery was conducted--as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program--by Mr. Summers." The lottery is bunched in with these other social functions. So, it logically follows that it is probably a social function as well. Given that it occurs around the summer solstice, it could be a town celebration involving a lottery. The tension rises when people begin drawing from the box, but this could be understood as the tension experienced in hopes of "winning" the lottery. 

So, the story begins with a sunny day and a picnic-type of atmosphere but it ends with a ritualized murder. In hindsight, the reader can go back and see subtle clues that foreshadow the tragedy. But these are subtle. This is how Jackson fools the reader. She never provides too much information that gives away the ending, the real meaning of the lottery. Upon first reading the story, everything (even the stones and the black box) simply seems like odd parts of some tradition. In addition to the shocking ending, the story suggests a more critical look at tradition and ritual in general. 

Tone refers to the attitude a writer has on a particular subject. The author conveys his or her position through diction and the manner in which a character or situation is presented. In this sense the tone can be sarcastic, critical, formal, informal, sad, cheerful, comic, or any other attitude.

In The Lottery the tone throughout is casual and easy-going. The author paints a picture of normalcy. The descriptions of what the townspeople do and say are very ordinary and seemingly bereft of any malice. In fact, the characters display a cheerful and informal approach to whatever they do. Their actions depict a society going through its everyday business and routine. The reader meanders through the story believing that what the author describes are the activities one would find in an ordinary and benign community of people.

Even initial references to the lottery make it appear as some customary good-natured activity that involves all the inhabitants of the town. The author's depiction is, however, deceiving because it hides a malevolent reality. The hints at the sinister nature of the lottery are quite subtle and only lightly foreshadow its true nature. The shocking truth is only fully expressed at the end of the story when we are informed that Tessie Hutchinson is sitting in a clearing and that "A stone hit her on the side of the head," and finally:

"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

Shirley Jackson's deliberate technique makes the story's ending much more surprising than it would have been. The reader is shocked to learn that the seemingly easygoing and happy townsfolk can practice such hideous cruelty and think nothing of it.

The tone of "The Lottery" is deceiving, because all appears well.  The children are out from school eagerly waiting for summer break to begin.  The women gather, and they catch up on the latest gossip.  The men come, and they talk of farm work and other trivial matters.  The whole context appears to be nonchalant and even friendly.  From this perspective, the reader does not expect a ritualistic stoning.  The reader, in short, is deceived.  Here is a quote that shows  the tone:

They greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip as they went to join their husbands. Soon the women, standing by their husbands, began to call to their children, and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times.

What makes the tone even more deceiving is that children are present.  This means that the children will partake in the stoning as well.  It is this juxtaposition of stoning and the casual attitude of the people in the story that creates a tone that is deceiving.