The title has a positive connotation, but as we read on, we see that this is not the case. Typically, a lottery is something you want to win. It can grant you money, trips and other rewards; however, the lottery described by Shirley Jackson in her story is something you want to avoid winning. While the traditional lottery marks someone as a winner, this lottery marks someone as haunted. By calling it “the lottery,” Jackson keeps the audience in the dark about the true essence of the story. “The lottery was conducted—as were the square dancing, the teen club, the Halloween program—by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities” (263). The lottery is equated with proms and teen clubs, and it is only when we learn the true nature of the lottery that we are shocked by the comparison. These are activities and institutions that seem normal to us and are compared to a brutal ritual. This implies that we need to take a deeper look at our traditions and institutions and determine whether they are actually beneficial or not. For example, just as “the lottery” did not have a negative connotation, neither did the name the Nazis used to describe what we know as the Holocaust. They euphemistically called it the “Final Solution”.”