Tessie serves as a character who realizes that tradition isn't always fair or just. After Tessie draws the black dot and is about to face death, she shouts to the people of the village, "'It's not fair, it's not fair'" (265). Sometimes, just like Tessie did, people only realize the illegality of tradition when things don't go the way they wanted and when it's ultimately too late to make a change. Other people might start to question tradition before something wrong is done to them. Mrs. Adams' character makes the statement when speaking to Old Man Warner that "Some places have already given up lotteries" (263). Mrs. Adams is the character who seems to question tradition and is most likely to stray from it. Other characters like Old Man Warner serve to show readers that some people may never stray from tradition. After criticizing the people of the northern village who talked about giving up the lottery, Old Man Warner says, "There has always been a lottery" (262). The way Old Man Warner emphasizes the word "always" gives readers the idea that this tradition will never be driven away in this village. Each of these characters played a very different role in connecting to the theme of this story. The theme in “The Lottery” is that blindly following tradition can prevent people from realizing the mistakes in their actions and that sometimes it is necessary to question tradition. This theme is revealed