The complaint of Mrs. Hutchinson at the end of the story, "It isn't fair," could be called poetic justice: after all, she has taken part in "The Lottery" and now reaps what she has sown, recalling another Scriptural verse: "Judge not, lest ye be judged" (Matthew 7:1). The sinister authority in the village, however, will not allow for any reflection or consideration of this kind. As Jackson writes, "Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him. 'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her" (Jackson 228). The plight of Mrs. Hutchinson is all too common: a willing participant in the lottery up till now (when she was the one who had stones in her hands -- not the one being stoned), she realizes too late...
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