Have you ever wondered what you would do if you won the lottery? The main theme of The Lottery is to blindly follow tradition. In history, there is an annual tradition of people going out and joining the traditional lottery. The author develops the theme of blindly following tradition, no matter how bad it is. The author also developed the theme by using the same old black box, even though it is not the original, to symbolize the tradition that does not change. The author fulfilled the theme by showing that not everything is as it seems. In the story the author prefigures the ending by adding "he made a large pile of stones in the corner of the square and defended it from the incursions of the other boys". Most people assume that rocks are for killing someone, and more likely they would think that they are for blowing up rocks. There was some hesitation when city members were asked for help. Which implies that they were afraid to touch the box. Another way the author uses foreshadowing was when Tessie started to feel something disturbing or strange about the lottery, and the story ends with Tessie being stoned to death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Another example is the reaction of adults to children who collect stones, pile them up, and supervise them. For example, "Bobby Martin ducked under his mother's loving hand and ran, laughing, toward the pile of rocks." The adults were not fazed by the actions and continued as if everything was normal letting them escape to guard the pile. All these little examples hinted at what would happen at the end of the story. The story itself is very ironic, for example, the lottery is something that is commonly thought to have to do with money, when in reality it is about being stoned to death. When people read this story for the first time, they get excited, wonder who will win a huge amount of money, and start thinking about what they would do if they won that money. The people of the town hope not to be chosen for the lottery and want the day to end or to all together stop the day from happening. To quote the article, “Bill Hutchinson stood silently, staring at the paper in his hand. Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted at Mr. Summers. “You didn't give him enough time to get all the documents he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't right!'” It is also ironic how everyone seems to care for each other, but without hesitation they accept the tradition and accept the victor's fate. Another literary device is images. The images first portrayed were calm and peaceful which began to transition to eerie and dark. It is also proven that people try to finish the lottery quickly to get home in time for dinner. Another example is old Walter, the story mentions that he has been drawn in the lottery for 27 years now. It is another example that proves that everyone in the city blindly accepts the lottery tradition. He also doesn't seem to have a problem entering the lottery many times. As the story goes, "They've been in the lottery for seventy-seven years," Old Walter said as he walked through the crowd. 'Seventy-seventh time'”. In conclusion, multiple literary devices such as foreshadowing, irony, and imagery were shown in the story. Irony was shown by describing that the story would be about winning the lottery and getting huge amounts of money. When it's not about wanting to win and seeing your destiny decided by a piece of paper with a dark circle on it. Foreshadowing was shown by explaining to the.