The villagers in Jackson's nondescript, rural town value tradition and adherence to rules. Each summer, the villagers gather in the town square to participate in the lottery, which is a meaningless, violent annual ritual. Jackson portrays the lottery as a senseless ritual by associating it with the superstitious belief that sacrificing an innocent citizen will increase the harvest yield. Staunch proponents of the lottery, like Old Man Warner, insist that the northern villagers are a "Pack of crazy fools" for disbanding the ritual and believe that they will return to living in caves if they would ever put an end to the lottery. Jackson's underlying message of the story concerns the dangers of blindly following traditions, which is exactly what the villagers' value. Despite the senseless, irrational nature of the lottery, they value following traditions to the point that they are willing to stone a random innocent citizen each year.

In addition to valuing traditions, the villagers also value adherence to rules. In the small, nondescript town, villagers are adamant about following the rules and committed to obeying the town's laws. They obediently follow the lottery's procedures and several citizens severely criticize Tessie Hutchinson for speaking out against the lottery. Tessie Hutchinson becomes the village's scapegoat and even her family members adhere to the rules by mercilessly stoning her to death. The town's reverence for following traditions and obeying the rules allow the brutal ritual to continue from one generation to the next as innocent citizens are violently murdered each year.

One characteristic the villagers seem to value, in addition to respect for tradition, is conformity. Each person who comes to participate in the drawings and the stoning seems to be doing so because everybody else is doing it. The one exception is Old Man Warner. He really enjoys the annual lottery and supports it enthusiastically. There are obviously some who think it is obsolete, but they are afraid to express their opinions directly. They would like somebody else to do so. They don't want to stand out in the crowd. A good example is Steve Adams. 

"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery."

This seems like a very weak way for Steve Adams to express his doubts about the value of this savage custom, but at least he is venturing to hint at an objection. If enough people were openly opposed to continuing the lottery, Adams would probably be happy to join them, but he will not try to initiate anything.

Even Mr. Summers, who conducts the lottery every year, seems to be carrying out his duties only because it is expected of him. He wants to get it over with as quickly as possible.

"Well, now." Mr. Summers said soberly, "guess we better get started, get this over with, so's we can go back to work."

When five members of the Hutchinson family are drawing slips...