"The Lottery " and "The Perils of Indifference"

The short story "The Lottery" and the speech" The Perils of Indifference" both demonstrate terrible violence and inhumanity by the most “ordinary” citizens. In "The Lottery" once a year the villagers gather in the town square for a strange event. Every villager’s life is at stake including the children. By the unfortunate luck of the draw a villager dies by getting stoned to death from their own villagers. For example, Tessie Hutchenson is stoned to death by her neighbors, husband, and son. The villagers consider this normal and a part of life given that the event is a tradition, but why should something so cruel and horrific be continued? Obviously it goes against basic human rights and is wrong, but it appears the black box is rooted deeply in tradition, and had “been put into use, even before the oldest man in town was born." Traditions carry constant within society, and it can have a great effect on human behavior. In "The Perils of Indifference", the author describes how such acts are easily committed, and witnessed by ordinary citizens. "Two world wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations..." These wars were fought by people no different from you and I, their circumstances placed them in this situation. What would you do in their place? Could you supervise a death camp? Could you fight a senseless war? The answer would most likely be no, but you cannot make that decision until you are in that situation. Human nature goes against war and killing, destroying innocent lives. Society can unfortunately change that, and turn people against what is right, "blur the lines between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil." It is up to us to fight the "Perils of Indifference" and stand up for what is right.