Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a classic story of what could happen when people follow a tradition for no other reason than it is a tradition. Blindly following what has been done in the past without questioning why leads to one horrible death every year in a fictional town in New England.
At the beginning of the story, the nature of the lottery that is to be held that day is not revealed to the reader. It is a special day in the town. Everyone gathers in the town square as conversations happen that show that this is an event that has been happening for many years, long enough for some of the older citizens to complain that changes have happened in the way the lottery is done. Children are excited, but some people are nervous. When it is time for the lottery the two men in charge, Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves, make sure that each family from the town is present or represented. The head of each family then comes forward and draws a slip of paper from a black box. Bill Hutchinson has drawn the one slip with a black spot. His wife, Tessie, complains that the drawing was not fair, but the townspeople tell her to be a good sport. All the members of the Hutchinson family then have to select slips, and Tessie draws the one with the black spot. The townspeople then proceed to stone her to death. No concrete explanation is given for why this is done; it is just something the towns in the area have been doing for a long time, and it is not questioned. It is a chilling story as it is such an ordinary day in an ordinary town until the citizens brutally murder an innocent woman.
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