Jackson spends little time describing the people of the village, making it out to be stereotypically small-town America. The one thing she dedicates serious detail to is the black box, describing its details and history in its very own paragraph. She also shares how the villagers react to it: with the apperance of the box the crowd hushes and few men want to be near it, creating the tension between characters and throughout the story.
Also, the black box is symbolic of the tradition and stability of the town itself, as well as representing something more mysteriously sinister. However, the form of the box is not so important as its actual existence. Each character must encounter the box at some point and thus every character has a personal relationship with it. The lottery itself is a silent guest that visits the town yearly, but the box remains as the embodiment of the brutality of the townspeople.