Blind Obedience Exposed in the LotteryThe annual ritual stoning of a villager in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" parallels the tradition of American culture. This article will inform the reader about the effect of tradition on the characters in the short story "The Lottery" and how traditions still strongly influence the lives of people in the United States. Christian weddings contain many traditions and superstitions that seem to defy logic. Although most couples no longer have an arranged marriage or dowry, fathers continue to give away their daughters during services. The bride and groom do not see each other before the ceremony, fearing that bad luck will happen to them. A friend chastised me for originally planning to get married at daylight saving time and told me I should change it “just to be safe.” Society continues to cherish these traditions and superstitions due to cultural influences and the possibility of bad things happening. In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, the annual ritual stoning of a villager parallels the traditions inherent in American culture. The black box is a source of symbol of tradition for city dwellers. The original box wore out many years ago and a new box was constructed from pieces of the old one. This reflects the customs of our own society. For review...... middle of sheet ...... time. It is possible that they were simply afraid of what would happen to them if they changed or stopped the lottery. Maybe they just went through the motions of the lottery without wondering why, or really thinking about it. Whatever the real reason, the lottery tradition continued. I will also continue to respect the traditions at my wedding in a month, when my father betrays me at half past one, and I will take great care not to see my fiancé before then. Work Cited: Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. Reading literature, reacting, writing. 4th ed. Ed. Camille Adkins. Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 315-322