the lottery is a game the town gathers for every year for. it has been going on for at leat 77 years, because the oldest man in the town is still in it. but its not a game. every family picks a piece of paper from the old, beaten up box, and whichever one is picked is up. then that family puts all thier family members names in the box and then whichever person is picked is stoned to death by the town. and all of them have accepted this. this year it was Tessie Hutchinson.