The small village in which The Lottery takes place is full of caring, normal families; the children "broke into boisterous play" and the men of the town spoke of "planting and rain; tractors and taxes" while waiting for the lottery to begin. The bloodbath to follow was a sharp contrast to the sun bathed square upon which the residents gathered. When the 'winner' was announced the normal citizens scrambled to fetch rocks of all sizes and quickly became a vicious mob of savage animals. Even Mrs Delecroix, a relatively normal housewife, "selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands..." From this one action it is clear that Mrs. Delecroix doesn't hold anything back as the mob rushes Tessie Hutchinson, violently stoning her to death.
The speech given in The Perils of Indifference delves into some of humanity's darkest moments and action, or inaction as is the case, of the twentieth century. The St. Louis incident is a noteworthy instance of indifference and the consequent death of 1000 Jewish people when they were turned away from the US and forced to return to Germany. The nonacceptance of these people spoke volumes to Hitler and may have further encouraged his "cleansing" as the world showed they didn't care for the Jewish community either. Because "the Wehrmacht could not have conducted its invasion of France without oil obtained from American sources" it is clear that even the public and businesses of America were unresponsive to the plight of the Jewish people. It wasn't until the bombing of Pearl Harbor that the US became officially involved in WWII. This is the epitome of indifference; the US only became alarmed and moved to action when they were directly affected.
The additional photograph from the 1950's era showed a great deal of both aggression towards minorities and their acquaintances as well as indifference. The young people who perpetrated the act of pouring shakes onto the three teens were clearly "normal" citizens, yet they undertook extraordinary action. Additionally, the bystanders to this atrocity were of almost equal fault for allowing this to happen.
All of these texts are examples of the susceptibility of humanity to commit grave injustices. The indifference expressed on multiple occasions in history is a constant reminder that we must not simply 'let it be' for "indifference is always the friend of the enemy [and] always benefits the aggressor - never the victim."
-Superman
