Freedom in The Lottery and Antigone

            In The Lottery and the play Antigone two completely different perspectives of freedom are depicted. The two readings differ so drastically because of the major separation in time and setting. The play Antigone takes place in Ancient Greece when God's and men ruled and women did not have much power. The Lottery takes place in the 1940's in a small village in America with a few hundred or so brain washed villagers. Through out both stories family is relevant, and cruel deaths occur. Because of these elements within the two stories it is clear as to why and how the perspectives of freedom differ.
             Although The Lottery and Antigone took place so far apart in time they both have some sort of rite. The rite in The Lottery was not religious, but still ceremonial because it was believed The Lottery would bring a greater harvest of the crops for the villagers. Old Man Warner states, "Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.'"(Jackson 205). Also a specific ritual would take place when it came to drawing the slips from the black box and starting the process of The Lottery. "There was proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of The Lottery"(248) Although conducting The Lottery was believe to bring a better crop the villagers did not take into consideration that they where killing innocent people. They blindly followed tradition even though it meant a pointless and senseless stoning of their once fellow villagers. "The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into us even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box."(248) No one in the village questioned The Lottery, because to them The Lottery had such strong tradition that it almost held a sense of freedom within the ritual for Mr.