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Why do you believe Old Man Warner doesn't want to get rid of the lottery?

Old Man Warner appears to be opposed to getting rid of the annual lottery mainly because he enjoys it. It provides excitement in his otherwise dull existence. We can see how much he enjoys the stoning near the end of the story as the crown converges on Tessie Hutchinson.



Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone."



There must be other reasons why the old man looks forward to the lottery and would be disappointed if it was abolished. He is proud that he has survived them for so many years. It gives him distinction. He brags about it.



"Seventy-seventh year I been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time."



Old Man Warner is undoubtedly also superstitious about the lottery. He is afraid of what might happen if the villagers gave it up. As the senior citizen of the community, he appears to feel it is his duty to uphold tradition.



Old Man Warner snorted. "Pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added petulantly.



Finally, Old Man Warner probably has come to believe that he is invulnerable. He has been through seventy-seven years of lottery drawings without being selected. He has watched and been partially responsible for the stoning of seventy-seven other people. If he ever had any compunctions about killing people he knew, he is over them. If he can get through another lottery, he will be guaranteed another year of life; other people—men, women, and children—may die in the annual lottery, but they may be, in effect, sacrificing their lives to ensure he continues to live.

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