In the story “the lottery” by shirley Jackson the village kept the black box for more than when the oldest man in town was born, they are throwing rocks/killing people they care about, and Old Man Warner says, “there has always been a lottery.” The town is blindly following a tradition that leaves a disaster. LE Modesitt Jr. an American author once said, “Rules are useful guidelines and generally should be needed. But blindly following them eventually and inevitably leads to a disaster.” The village kept the black box, and every year Mr. Summers began talking about a new box. In the book it says “The box has been resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner was born.” (Jackson 71) They still kept the black box for