who is old man warner?

Old Man Warner is a 77 year old man who is still alive having been through all the lotteries. We find, through Old Man Warner, that the Lottery might once have been a sacrifice for better crops. Most of the historical traditions and beliefs around the Lottery had been dropped. The villagers still took part in it as a matter of mindless ritual and a morbid sense of entertainment. Old Man Warner represents the archaic nature of the Lottery as well as the irony of the tradition.