This box primarily symbolizes mystery, but later on through the story we can clearly see that it is a perfect example of the overall theme of the story - a symbol of evil, leading to doom and death. It also depicts townspeople's unwillingness for a change and the illogic of their loyalty to tradition. These people act as if they were in fear, as if that box stood for some great power. They stick to these customs no matter what, even if they do not understand why. There is simply no good reason why these people should be loyal to this box, nor is there a reason why they should continue holding the lottery at all; this event is completely absurd and bizarre.
Another important theme in ''The Lottery'' is the theme of hypocrisy. First, it is important to mention that family bonds are a significant part of the lottery. In the story, family members turn against one another so easily and without any pangs of conscience. These relationships which ought to be the essential mean nothing the moment it's time to stone the victim. Tessie Hutchinson is quite willing to participate in group-sponsored violence until she becomes its victim, i.e. the scapegoat. She displays hypocrisy and human weakness. The lottery makes an absolutely unwilling, hypocritical woman bear the burden of the community's ritual murder. Tessie is the one who chooses the marked strip of paper and immediately loses the respect of people and also her identity of a housewife. Instead of defending her, both her family and her friends participate in the killing with as much excitement as everyone else. At that very moment, they suddenly forget that she is somebody close to them, and they simply turn into cold-hearted people who are not sorry for committing this immoral act. Although she did nothing wrong, her innocence does not matter to anyone, they simply do not care for this injustice. This is a perfect example of how societies can torture and condemn innocent people for completely absurd reasons.
