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Social Atrocities In The Lottery

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In today’s world, social atrocities refer to acts of cruelty, violence, or oppression that are perpetrated by individuals or groups against other members of society. These acts are often motivated by deeply ingrained beliefs, prejudices, or systemic inequalities and can have a devastating impact on individuals, families, and entire communities. Examples of social atrocities throughout history include slavery, genocide, forced displacement, political repression, and discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, or nationality. However, they are universally recognized as unethical and a violation of human rights. In the short literature piece “The Lottery”, the author incorporates numerous examples of social atrocities even though …show more content…

Like “The Lottery”, the death penalty is allowed to continue despite being considered unethical by many because of deeply ingrained cultural and historical beliefs. Proponents of the death penalty argue that it is a necessary tool for deterring crime and ensuring justice for victims and their families. However, opponents argue that the death penalty is an outdated and inhumane practice that violates human rights and can lead to wrongful convictions. In "The Lottery," the atrocity continues because the villagers believe that it is necessary to ensure a good harvest and keep proper order in the surrounding areas. The lottery is considered a tradition, and no one questions its validity or morality until the arrival of a stranger who challenges their beliefs. Similarly, the death penalty continues because of cultural and historical traditions, and many people accept it as a necessary part of the justice system without questioning its morality or effectiveness. In both cases, the atrocity is allowed to proceed because of deeply ingrained beliefs and the reluctance of people to question the status quo. However, as in the case of the stranger in "The Lottery," it takes individuals who are willing to challenge these beliefs and ask difficult questions to bring about change and end these social

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In the Lottery, the townspeople aren’t aware the reason behind the stoning of an individual. Tessie Hutchinson screams, “It ain’t fair, it isn’t right”(Jackson 630). She believes its unfair for her to be stoned just because its a tradition and ritual. The lottery has been going on for awhile now but the logic for its existence is still unclear to them. They don’t understand the purpose, they just perform because its a “tradition”.

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2309 Words | 10 Pages

Just like the holocaust when no one thought that “actually the event could ever happen” Shirley Jackson proves in the lottery that this really can happen in society. The sociological

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Vidya Jagadeesh Mrs. wald/Mrs. Ruggiero Language Arts- period 7 28 february 2023 Things are not always what they seem in our daily lives when we grow up in them. In the short story book ”The Lottery", Shirly Jackson wrote that a town has a lottery that turns out to be very dark. In the dystopian fiction book the giver, Lois Lowry wrote in the book a town people believe to be a nice friendly town is actually not. In both stories, people's behaviors reveal that things are not always what they seem.

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One can see by examining the symbolism of the setting and the irony of a welcoming setting Shirley Jackson's short story, The Lottery is not an archetypal horror story. Firstly, one can see that as the story continues, it progressively gets creepier, for an example, with the introduction of Mr.Graves, it may not be much but it is the beginning of a long slippery slope that leads to the stoning of Tessie Hutchinson. Throughout the story one would be greeted with the warm inviting descriptions, for example, “The morning of July 27th was clear and sunny with a fresh warmth of a full-summer day; The flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green”. That quote, for example, is but one, of some descriptions the shield the unexpected and off-putting ending.

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784 Words | 4 Pages

Another example that indicates this theme in “The Lottery” is how when Tessie was enduring getting stoned to death, “The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles. ”(Jackson 75), and “ Mrs. Delacroix selected a stone so large she had to pick it up with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. ”(Jackson 75). This shows that even though everyone knows the dangers of the lottery, and even though they know this could happen to them, they still participate in the activity of stoning people picked to death, and they don’t care who is getting stoned to death, whether it’s a family member or friend.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

The world is currently affected by the foulest illness of all: conformity. Many people are nervous to stray away from tradition in fear of being an outcast, even if that means following customs like racism and sexism, which causes chaos among the country. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” displays this morbid reality when a town of villagers gathers to obey their annual tradition. Although this event appears at first to be pleasant and festive, it soon becomes clear that the prize is not something of value. The “winner”, it turns out, will be stoned to death.

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Inhumanity in The Lottery and in life The short story, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, is about a village that takes part in this annual ritual called the lottery, but instead of the usual winning and receiving a heaping of money, you get pelted with stones until you are no longer breathing. Harsh right? There is actually a harsh reality to this story. It is shown in The Lottery that society and humans are very inhumane at times and that they will follow along side others in traditions with out a sight to what is actually going on.

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“The Lottery”, a horror story created by Shirley Jackson, is about a moderate sized village that sacrifices innocent villagers in a forsaken lottery for the sake of tradition, and for their belief of good fortune that will arise. This story presents a lot of themes that relate to the real world, and these themes revolve around the negatives of society such as shunning, and forced indoctrination. One theme demonstrated was the theme of tradition versus progress. Tradition is not always right because it prevents society from progressing forward. Shirley Jackson vividly presents that theme through the characters’ malicious actions.

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Is having a lottery to increase a farmer’s crop growth a fair idea? In the short story, The Lottery, readers find out that a small village host a lottery and the winner is stoned to death in order for the village to have a prosperous crop. Readers are left with a confused feeling due to people sacrificing another human to have a bountiful harvest. Readers can argue that the villagers should continue the drawing by blindly following the tradition to prosper. To begin with, the townspeople should discontinue the lottery.

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In Omelas one random, innocent child is picked to endure “abominable misery” (Le Guin 3). In “The Lottery” one random citizen is picked once a year to be stoned to death. They believe that using one person as a scapegoat is what keeps their community alive and thriving, even though it is stated that some cities have done away with the

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717 Words | 3 Pages

"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a strange village that blindly follows a non beneficial tradition. Jackson uses several objects in order to convey the overall theme of mob mentality to the reader, such as stones, old man Warner, and the black box. The symbols build upon the story to solidify the theme that mob mentality can ruin a society. Many societies even today struggle with mob mentality especially communist societies. " The Lottery" is a prominent example of how history repeats itself.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

The purpose of the lottery is to continue the old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order for a harvest. The scapegoat is chosen at random and then stoned to death by his/her companions. Although “The Lottery” reflects an event from the past, Jackson shows that many of the actions of the town resemble the tribulations that ensue in today’s society. To begin with, like the villagers in the story, our society also partakes in valuing tradition.

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501 Words | 3 Pages

Traditions have been sought after and passed on for generations; with no questions asked, whether humane or not, traditions are hard to break and diminish as they are often what a culture or community stands for. In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, a story about the tradition of a small village, is painted in impeccable details of peace, and serenity on a warm summer day, as everyone follows the tradition they have known since a long time ago despite the true intentions and meaning of it forgotten. The Lottery taking place annually is like no other lottery, it paints the true picture of the horror that epitomizes the tradition that none of the villagers dare to question, despite it creating separation between gender and families and ruining

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1220 Words | 5 Pages

Human nature can be characterized as being positive, capable of altruism and goodness which sets humankind apart from savage animals; however, human nature possesses a dark side, namely cruelty, and it is capable of barbarism like any beast. In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, cruelty is part of human nature, and the participants of the lottery demonstrate human cruelty through violence towards one another; markedly, by exhibiting desensitization to violence and the acceptance of violence resulting in internal dysfunction which is perpetuated yearly. Participants of the lottery belong to a close-knit community, and every year the community hosts an enigmatic lottery draw. The conclusion of the lottery draw is only mysterious until the outcome

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817 Words | 4 Pages

Through its haunting portrayal of the devastating consequences of unquestioning conformity, “The Lottery” exposes the dangers of blindly following tradition and warns against the chilling effects of groupthink, making it a timeless and thought-provoking work of literature. As previously mentioned, the story explores the theme of blindly following tradition and dangers of complicity in one’s own oppression. The quote, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones,” highlights the deeply ingrained tradition and the power of conformity that exists in the society depicted in “The Lottery”. The story is set in a small town, where every year, the townspeople hold a lottery to determine who will be sacrificed for the sake of the community. The shocking revelation of the story is that the person chosen is stoned to death by the rest of the townspeople.

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