Compare And Contrast Milgram's Experiment And The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

After reading “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, “Stone-throwing an Annual Bash” by Mark Fineman, and “Milgram’s Obedience Experiment” by Kendra Cherry, I have noticed some commonalities; all of them deliver the same idea, that people follow what they are told without thinking about the consequences.

In “The Lottery”, the villagers followed the tradition without thinking about the origin of it. They even forgot the rituals and the chants for this tradition. Similarly, in Fineman’s article, the citizens of Pandhurn followed the tradition and it became all about bravery and looks in front of the camera. They did not think about what they were doing. Also in Milgram’s experiment, the idea was about how people follow orders from people of authority

without considering the consequences.
Another common thing in the three texts was the idea of harming people. In “the Lottery”, they stoned the ‘winner’. In the Indian tradition, they also used stones and they killed people. Also in Cherry’s article, the participants in the experiment were asked to harm the learner using the shocking machine.
In conclusion, the three texts have similar ideas. However, they have different styles and formats. The real question is how far people will follow orders or traditions. What is the limit where the humanity inside people wakes up and make thin think?