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Today the western world prides itself in being a fair and just society, but are we really that much different from the primitive and barbaric customs from the townspeople in “The Lottery”? This is the point that the author, Shirley Jackson, is trying to make in her short story “The Lottery”. “The Lottery” examines society’s changing traditions, or lack thereof. By using the literary techniques of symbolization, setting and characterization Shirley Jackson develops the theme of new versus old. “The Lottery” is told in chronological order, starting with the townspeople gathering in the town square and ending with the winner of the lottery’s prize. The story is told in third person. The story’s narrator tells the story from an objective third person point of view, so the narrator does not tell the reader of the characters thoughts or emotion leaving the reader free to interpret them as he or she wishes. The third person point of view allows the story to be retold or reproduced, which makes the story in the past tense. Although, there is no actual discourse within the story, there is however, a level of discourse between the reader and the characters in the story. Because the “civilized” person would neve