First she sets the story in a very quaint, quiet and …show more content…
The men gather together telling jokes and talking "...of planting and rain, tractors and taxes..." (500). The women "...greeted one another and exchanged bits of gossip..." (500). The children were also ironically calm as they talked of "...the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands" (500). The townspeople act as though this gathering is a happy event, yet as the story evolves, the reader learns that the death of one of their own is approaching. "Jackson's brilliance is to convince the reader that the residents of the community are normal, ordinary people; and that the rule that they accept so unquestioningly is no more extreme than other orders that comprise patriarchal law" (Wagner-Martin).
The introduction of the black box is a key turning point in the setting. At first it symbolizes mystery to the reader, but by the end the box symbolizes doom, darkness, and fear. "The villagers kept their distance" (500). The box holds the tickets for the lottery. The winner is chosen by a drawing. Whoever holds the ticket with a black dot is selected as the "winner". The box holds the fate of one of the