Winning the lottery!

I first read "The Lottery" when I was a senior in High School. It struck me that first time because when it starts out, all of the people in the town seem to act like it is a normal day. Everybody is bustling around, chatting with one another while their children play as they would in their own backyard. It seems to be a closely knit town that knows everyone and is friendly with their neighbors. As the story progresses however, you can tell that the mood shifts slightly. The closer to the time of the drawing, the more somber the environment. I did not understand this at first. Isn't winning the lottery supposed to be a good thing? Not in this town. The way that Tessie dies takes me back to reading the gruesome ways that people were sometimes killed in the Bible. Even her own children and husband helped the town to rid of their family member. Some societies still partook in acts similar to this not too long ago. Why? To keep the population low? Their town was already fairly small. Or is this because of the lottery? Whatever the reason, it worked well for this community. I just hope Bozeman never decides to make this an annual activity.