“Although everyone seems to agree that the annual lottery is important, no one seems to know when it began or what its original purpose was” (Introduction ) This is clearly stated in the story. he says the reason the tradition started was lost years ago. It is also specified when the box is described as an old sturdy object and that “Mr. Summers frequently talked to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset tradition even as much as that represented by the black box” (Jackson). In the story, it is also said that much of the original tradition was lost or abandoned, to the point that Mr. Summers, who symbolizes a leader with frightening power, was able to slip wood shavings to the instead of paper in the box (Jackson). . Mr. Summers is in charge of the lottery, it's even his job to do it, but the black dot on the paper decides who gets stoned. Mr. Summer's power serves as a symbol for humans who blindly follow tradition, as no one has ever challenged Mr. Summers, whether to figure out or stop the lottery or even to challenge why he is in power. Instead, the townspeople pity him because he has a stubborn wife and no children. Jackson never explains why Mr. Summers has all this power. Mr. Summers is a bit ironic because of his last name Summers. When someone thinks of summer, they think