Lottery

The men as gathering together and talking about "planting and rain, tractors and taxes", the women are "exchanging bits of gossip", which are common stereotypes for people living in small farming communities . The residents appear to be engaging in normal activities, and there is no hint of anything sinister to the casual eye. .
             Up to this point in the story, Jackson, shows nothing out of the ordinary which would reflect an ironic ending, but upon further reading of the story, the audience catches glimpses of the unusual nature of this community. First, she sets the time of day to be mid-morning "The people of the village began to gather around ten o"clock". This is a clue to an ironic ending since most occurrences of evil or criminal activity are associated with the darkness of night. Second, she also points out key buildings that surround the town square. She fails to describe a church or a courthouse which are common buildings to all communities, and the normal gathering places for events suggested by the title. Most typical Americans visualizes morality with small farming communities and well grounded religion The lack of a church in the scene gives a hint to a less than moral community despite the serene setting. The mention of the town's celebration of Halloween but not for Christmas or Easter further illustrates this point. All of these points should lead audience to consider that something out of the ordinary is going on in this community.
             The introduction of the black box is a key turning point for the setting. At the beginning of the story, it symbolizes a mystery, but by the ending the box symbolizes doom. Someone's fate lies in the black box. The black box symbolizes darkness and fear and maybe even death to the villagers. Black has always been a symbol for death, and the color of the box is no exception to this rule. A definition of the color black is "marked by the occurrence of disaster".