The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put to use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one like to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box. There was a story that the present box had been made with some pieces of the box that preceded it, the one that had been constructed when the first people settled down to make a village here. Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done. The black box grew shabbier each year; by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained." (Par. 5).
Even though you may believe that lotteries are for winning great prizes the author gives subtle hints that the black lottery box represents evil. The author immediately starts out by making the box sound old and creepy. The black box had been put to use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town. She emphasizes just how old it is by using the word "even". This gives you an approximate idea of how old the box really is because later in the story Old Man Warner says that he has been doing this for 77 years. In the next line it states that no one wanted to "upset" the tradition. Using the word upset sort of gives away that this box might cause harm. Maybe the reason these villagers didn't want to upset the black box is because they had heard the story of how pieces of this box were from the original box. These people did not want to think about making a new box either because "the subject was allowed to fade off". After the only meeting per year these villagers did not want to think about the evil that this box caused.
