Shirley Jackson is best known for her story "The Lottery", as the story shows her emotions towards what she calls "a brutal rite, unnecessary violence and general inhumanity" ( Friedman 61). Reviews of the novella are mostly from a negative perspective; however, some say the story is understandable, if viewed from a religious perspective. In the story, residents gather “on June 27” to choose a lottery winner who will be stoned to ensure an abundance of corn. While waiting for the lottery to begin, some residents begin to question the meaning of the tradition, as they had forgotten the reasons why the lottery started. At this point, a gentleman named “Old Man Warner” speaks: “Lottery in June, the corn will soon be heavy” (Jackson 110). Old Man Warner's words prove that the tradition is a fertility ritual. The annual ritual sacrifice of a scapegoat to appease a higher deity, as seen in "The Lottery", reflects similar ceremonies practiced in societies such as the ancient Greeks, the Mexica (Aztecs), and the Skidi Pawnees, to rid the community of sins, to ensure fertility, or to praise life. The ritual sacrifice of a scapegoat to appease a higher deity, rid the community as a whole, and ensure fertility reflects religious ceremonies practiced in ancient Greek society. Ohio State University professor and author Sarah Iles Johnston suggests that “the Greeks [sought] fertility in crops, animals, and themselves; economic prosperity; good health; and security of self, family, and country,” basing the relationship between humans and the divine on “charis or favor, which [must] be repaid” through a scapegoat ritual (35, 215). The "so-called pharmakos (scapegoat) ritual" consists of...... middle of paper ......– Honors. Glendale: Phillip Roderick, 2014. Page. 108-112. Print.Johnston, Sarah Iles. Ancient religions. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. Electronic Book Collection (EBSCOhost). Internet. April 8, 2014. Linton, Ralph. The sacrifice to the morning star by the Skidi Pawnee. No. 6. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1922. N. pag. University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign. Internet. April 8, 2014. .Saunders, Dr. Nicholas J. “Mesoamerica.” World mythology. First ed. Richmond Hill: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd., 1993. pp. 234-48. Print.Read, Kay A. Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. N. pag. Internet. April 8. 2014. .