The Lottery

"Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.'...There's always been a lottery."

This story was very interesting because of the surprising turn of events and the subtle irony that contributes to the unexpected ending. One of the most ironic situations involved Old Man Warner addressing the gossip that other towns had abandoned the lottery. He talks about how without the lottery, people might go back to prehistoric rituals, like living in caves. The lottery itself is a barbaric, prehistoric tradition, but the townspeople don't see it that way. The phrase connecting the lottery to the corn harvest shows that the drawing of names used to ensure a plentiful harvest. Since they have let some of the tradition go, it probably has less to do with the corn crop and more to do with the feeling of necessity concerning the lottery. It's been going on for so long, it's ingrained in the town's rituals. The people don't see the stoning as wrong or barbaric; it's just part of the ritual. This and the fact that lotteries usually involve winning prizes adds to the irony. The reader is able to pick up on the irony because of the objective narrator. The person telling the story passes no judgment, allowing the reader to draw his or her own conclusions from the plot and the characters.