The moral conflict of right versus wrong in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson sheds light on the selfish motivations of man in showing what people are willing to do to protect themselves. The unusual and brutal tradition of sacrificing one person each year has brought out the worst in the townspeople. The children are raised with the idea that the lottery is normal and morally correct, and the adults do nothing to stop it unless it affects them. As the story develops and the conflict becomes more visible, characters’ true personalities are revealed and the theme about the repercussions of blindly following tradition is shown to the reader.
The lottery brings out the negative side of the townspeople. In the beginning, the boys are collecting rocks. Without the conflict, this seems like a normal childish thing to do, but it becomes much more ominous and dark when the reader realizes the rocks will be used later for stoning. The lottery turned something seemingly innocent into something completely morbid. In addition, the conflict revealed the flaws of the adults of the village. Everyone is worried about the results of the drawing, yet no one seems concerned enough to speak out against it. They each have their own selfish agenda that they prioritize over the greater good. They would rather protect themselves from being selected than end
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She’s introduced as any other ordinary woman, just another member of the community who has no issue with the lottery. She only seems to have an opinion on the situation once it concerned her. Once it’s her turn to pick from the box, she tries to put her daughter and son in law in her place to get out of the situation. Her desperation comes out when she realizes she was picked, and went as far as to sacrifice her own daughter to save herself. The lottery showed just how far she was willing to compromise her morals to protect