The Lottery

For myself, "The Lottery" was a mixed bag as far as whether I liked it or not. The fact that the children were gathering stones together and then all the townspeople gathering together also gave away for me what the ending was going to be. I don't know if the ending was suppose to be more surprising for readers or not. I suppose back in the forties when this story first came out it might have been more of a "shocker" ending. For me, the story is more about figuring out why people would do such things and the purpose (if any) of the plot. There's the theme about having men in control of the town shown on page 407 when Mr. Summers asks a couple of the women if their sons will be picking the paper out of the box for them that gives the impression that the story is about the idea of man's control over women. I'm sure that back in the forties this was a more prominent issue than it is now. Also the idea that small towns have a tendency to shy away from change is another theme addressed in the story. On page 408 when the townspeople discuss other towns in the area that have gotten rid of the lottery; maybe this hints that as towns become bigger, they also become more progressive and open to new ways of life. So even though the story itself didn't have a surprise ending for me, it still made me think about a couple of the themes in it.