In "The Lottery, " Shirley Jackson gives the audience the option to believe that the method of execution is one that is not necessarily an arbitrary choice. Stoning is known to be one of the oldest and most common forms of execution while it is also one of the most symbolic. This symbolism is prevalent throughout both "The Lottery " and the Bible. Many of the first Christian martyrs were stoned to death and serve as a symbol for the innocent being wrongly executed. In addition, the story of Jesus in where he stopped a stoning with the words "He who is without sin cast the first stone " (John 8:7) is one everyone knows, at least indirectly. This phrase, while never said in the story, is hard to forget after reading it. In both biblical text and the setting of the story, stoning was the "norm " in the given societies. .
Jackson reveals one of the most basic facets of humanity in her story, the need for a scapegoat. The tradition of the lottery is analogous to religious traditions because it is passed on at an early age, people rarely question it, and it includes the use of a scapegoat to carry other peoples' sin. Religious traditions are passed onto children at an early age, just as tiny Davy Hutchinson is taught about the lottery before understands the events that actually take place. Children and parents alike take part in the stoning, much in the same way that parents teach their children religious traditions. Children learn by example and are eager to please their parents. Even before the adults "The children had stones already, and someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles. " (867).
One major theme portrayed in the story as well as biblical story is that of society wrongfully designating scapegoats to bear the sins of the community. In "The Lottery, " Tessie Hutchinson is stoned to death to appease the forces of tradition, desiring a sacrifice for the atonement of the sin of others in the community.
