This specific part of the ritual has been linked to possible Islamic conflicts of the time. Stoning is a very ancient tradition within the Islamic faith, and the process of collecting stones parallels the Islamic rite Ramy Al Jamarat, in which pilgrims throw stones at Satan to show defiance to the Devil (Al-Joulan 2010 ). Another parallel with Islam is the death penalty by stoning as punishment for adultery. This is the case because Tessie is stoned in a clearing devoid of civilization, the fact that it was a stoned woman and the stone carvings described in Islamic tradition are also correctly represented in the lottery ritual of Jackson (Al-Joulan 2010). ). Jackson also connects the violence to the lost history of the lottery ritual, and the fact that the ritual itself has also changed over the course of seventy-seven years. This lottery represents the seventy-seventh time that Old Man Warner has entered the lottery, and much to his dismay, he has noted that the lottery is not what it used to be. He said, "It's bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there.