Written by Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" is a short story about a town that hosts an annual lottery that decides which person gets stoned by the rest of the town. Jackson slowly and subtly builds suspense throughout the story, only solving the mystery surrounding the lottery at the last moment, as the townspeople surround Tessie with their stones. The symbolism used helps demonstrate the overall meaning of the story, such as the lottery itself. The lottery shows how people desperately cling to ancient traditions, no matter how harmful they may be. Furthermore, it can show how callous many will act while staring at a gruesome situation, eventually becoming its victims. Jackson's story presents the issue regarding the lady's habit. Hutchinson comes across the event late, laughing that he has “[c]lean forgotten what day it was” (Jackson 292). Next, Mr. Summers, the lottery official, calls out the names of the people who cannot participate in the lottery and asks for the person who will draw for them. Two people were missing, Clyde Dunbar who had broken his leg and Watson's mother. Dunbar's wife was drawing for him and seemed to be unhappy that she had been entrusted with this task. Similarly, a boy from the Watson family nervously drew for his mother and himself. This is where the tension and suspense of the story begins to build, as the reader can tell that the characters are becoming more and more worried as more names are called. Mr. Adams and Old Warner discuss the North Village, a town that is considering abandoning the lottery. Old Man Warner calls them “crazy” (Jackson 294), and says that “there has always been a lottery” (Jackson 294). This is another example of citizens' rigidity towards their old traditions, as well as starting to show that the lottery is not exactly a positive event, as many cities are abandoning it. It is later called the Hutchinson family, meaning that the winner of the lottery will be Mr. or Mrs. Hutchinson or one of their three children. Mrs. Hutchinson immediately protests, adding mystery to the lottery. Considering that most people would be thrilled to be the winner of the lottery, this scene is another indication that the lottery is anything but good. One by one, the Hutchinsons revealed the slips of paper they had drawn to determine the winner, and every person holding a blank showed great relief. The climax of the story comes when Tessie Hutchinson is revealed to be the winner of the lottery. This simultaneously relieves some of the suspense