Shirly Jackson’s short story sounds to be the most negative of small-town customs, as portrayed by her use of a small American town that hosts a savage stoning. The small village that Jackson mention in the story bears no name or state, making it strange and frightening manner. As if the horrible behavior spurred by a group of conformity that can happen anywhere in the United States. Though, her story did not specifically censure any particular institution or custom, still her story gives warning of the dangers that conformity and acceptance can be brought.
In 1948, most of the world was still trying to come to terms with the astonishing violence of World War II containing the genocide of the Holocaust and the casualties of the first particularly dull and graphic fashion to depict the dangers of a casual or even routine acceptance of brutality.