Literature Review

Although there is little dispute about the influence that the short story exerts on the society, scholars study it from different aspects.

1. The themes of the story

For the themes of the story, according to Xu Hong, they can be concluded as follows:

1. The tradition is deeply rooted in people#8217;s minds. They are reluctant to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. To be more direct, the tradition here equals to the superstition which is passed down from generation to generation. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in the town, stands for the tradition. He holds the belief that the ritual of the lottery is good just because it is handed down from generation to generation. He has attended the ritual for almost 77 times, which should be taken seriously according to Old Man Warner.

2. People have a hatred of change, for they themselves can not be easily changed. Nature passes nurture. It is hard to change the personalities of human beings. When an idea was proposed that the lottery should be cancelled, and that another village is going to give up the lottery, Old Man Warner immediately snorted, #8220;Pack of crazy fools,#8221; he said, "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live hat way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly.

Besides the above themes concluded by Xu Hong, there are several other different themes from different perspectives, they can be demonstrated like this:

1. Society wrongfully designates scapegoats to bear the sins of the community.

2. The wickedness of ordinary people can be just as horrifying as the heinous crime of a serial killer.

3. The unexamined life is not worth living. The villagers refuse to examine their tradition and continue to carry out the ritual which can send one of their friends or neighbors and even family members to death.