Have you ever read the Lottery ? A classic Short story by Shirley Jackson which shows how tradition mixed with superstition can lead to nonsense.

June 27th is when the summer solstice begins ,a time when seed planting begins. In order to assure a good harvest everyone in a small town gathers up to do the annual Lottery . One old man points out that some towns have stopped doing the lottery, he believes its crazy not to follow tradition.As the crowd gathers, one woman wonders who is going to win this year,others just want to get this over with .

Throughout the story you will notice that certain characters last names are related to religious symbols ,for example Mrs.Graves & Mr.Delacroix.As everyone pick a paper Mrs.Delacroix arrives asking if they have started already ,luckily she gets the chance to pick out a paper. As they send out the order to unfold the paper a woman shrieks in discontent “It’s not fair” she says  “I came late” . The old man points out that its tradition and she won fair and square.

All of the towns men ,woman and children gather around the woman who is leaning against the wall .Each and everyone of them holding a rock in their hand ,stone Mrs.Delacroix to death.

My retrospective

this short story made me question religion ,it made me question what is the difference between actual beliefs and tradition (obviously culture has a big influence). So in the end ask yourself this , just because its tradition does it make it right?