The Old Shabby Black Box Analysis

To begin with, the old, shabby black box represents how a small country village is unwilling to give up a tradition they have held on to for more than 70 years. The village people are excited about, June 27th, and the day of the lottery. The old shabby black box has faded in some places showing wood colors. Mr. Summers, the owner of the local coal company, has struggled with the process over the years and many things have changed. The changes are: no yelling, no pledging to the American flag, and no reporting on who was murdered the previous year. He decides to use pieces of paper in the black box because there are more than 300 people in the town now and the box is no longer big enough to hold 300 wood chips. In addition, the black box has been put in different places and people forget where they have put it. Sometimes it sits in Mr. Graves's barn, or it is put underfoot in the post office, and also set on a shelf in the Martin’s grocery. The town’s leaders forget where the black box is from year to year, even though the lottery is part …show more content…
All of the heads of the household come up in ABC order to pick a slip to paper. Most people look for where is Clyde Dunbar; but he broke a his leg and his son Horace will draws for him. Also Mr. Watson died last year, so his son will draw from his mother and father. The first man to choose is Steve Adams, who is nervous to say hi to Mr. Summers because he is scared he will get the black dot. In the middle of the story, the person who gets the black dot is Bill Hutchinson but Tessie shouts and says,"It fair!" So Mr. Summers decides the Hutchinson family will pick from the black box. In the end, the person who gets the black dot is Tessie Hutchinson; so the people, her family, and her best friend Mr. Delacroix throws stone at her and nothing else can save her life. Her death is an example of the terrible tradition the town has held