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…showed last 75 words of 337 total…be conducted. The reminiscing serves as a reminder to the villagers of the way things are and the way they have always been. The sheer weight of generations of villagers following the lottery tradition is felt. The mood of the people shifts from amicability, to false bravado, to relief and finally nervous release as they fulfill the obligation of stoning the victim. Even little Davy Hutchinson is handed a pebble to wield against his mother.