The most important symbolic power of the stones as the vehicle for execution is the requirement of a large group of participants for success. If the "winner" was shot, hanged, choked, beheaded, etc., that would have been accomplished by one executioner. With stoning, mass amounts of people must each do their own part. No one gets away with simply watching; "someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles", so even Tessie's small son has to participate. This makes everyone in the town culpable though some may view their own role as too small to do any real damage since they may have thrown only a few stones that maybe only hit her legs. But Jackson implies that if you're not a vehicle for change, you're a part of the problem and, in this case, a murderer. This violent tradition's survival depends on the wholtown's blind acceptance of it or at least their unwillingness to change. Mr. Adams casually mentions a village "over in the north...talking of giving up the lottery." But this semi-suggestion of considering a similar change is quickly dismissed by Old Man Warner (WARN-er, get it?) whose role is to symbolize the hidebound traditionalists who won't even consider a new way of doing things. After Old Man Warner calls those who would stop the lottery a "pack of crazy fools", Mrs. Adam's claims "some places have already quit lotteries" but then there is no further mention of what Mr. and Mrs. Adams may have been discussing behind closed doors. There is no place for individual mindset in this tradition, only unquestioning group mentality. Everyone must gather June 27th to pluck one townsperson (man, woman, child or elderly) from the group. Everyone must pick up their own piece of the violence. Everyone must throw.
In the short story “The Lottery,” stones play an important role because of what they symbolize in the overall context of the story. The story starts out by describing how an idyllic small town prepares for an annual event, “the lottery”, which at first seems like a joyful celebration. In the second paragraph, the text describes the happy anticipation the children and adults experience as they are preparing for the event. The children are off from school and can spend all day as they please; however, "the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them." They spend the day engaging in "boisterous play" and “selecting the smoothest and roundest stones”, stuffing them into their pockets, and building a “pile of stones in one corner” of the town square.
As the story continues, the reader learns that the stones are not meant for playing but rather serve a very specific and sinister purpose. They are the weapon of choice used to injure and kill the winner of the annual lottery. The stones in the story hence symbolize the horrors hidden behind an innocent façade of joyous and wholesome community life. The text seems to suggest that even societies that appear to be community-oriented and “happy” can harbor community-sanctioned violence and injustices.
In "The Lottery," the stones are important for a number of reasons. Firstly, the stones foreshadow the murder of Tessie Hutchinson at the end of the story. This foreshadowing begins in the second paragraph of the story when the narrator describes the children stuffing their pockets with stones, selecting the "smoothest and roundest" ones, and making a pile of them in the corner.
Secondly, the stones act as a symbol of human violence throughout the story. Through the use of this symbol, Jackson makes the point that every human has a capacity for violence. Note, for example, that even children are involved in the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson. Nobody is too young or too old to be involved in this barbaric ritual.
Similarly, the stones are the only surviving relic of this historic tradition:
Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones.
The stones, therefore, represent the darker side of human nature. Jackson argues that humans cannot escape their propensity for extreme and illogical acts of violence.
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