In this story, winning the lottery means that you are stoned to death, not the recipient of a great prize. Secondly, the description in the first paragraph of the story is also ironic. Jackson describes the day as "clear" and "sunny," for instance, and notes that the flowers are "blossoming."
One example of irony is that Tess is chosen to be the one for the lottery yet in the beginning she is portrayed to be a carefree woman that cares for her family and a person the town likes. Also old Man Warner makes fun of towns that are wanting to get rid of The Lottery and he thinks that means they will go back to primitive times. Though it is the opposite because that town is moving forward by abandoning dated traditions to match moral standards.
