Absence of Fear
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave
man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela).
Have you ever really thought about the things you fear and why you fear them? Recently I have
read some texts that have gotten me thinking about this quote. This quote has a lot to compare to
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. She wrote a story about a town of people who drew an annual
lottery and the winner got stoned down with rocks by the entire town, even by their own family.
Another passage that I read and thought had a great comparison to is "Stay Hungry. Stay
Foolish" address delivered by Steve Jobs. This speech was about Steve Jobs the founder of
Apple, the phone
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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, was a very strange story. It was strange to me because
of the plot it had. Jackson wrote a story on a town of people who drew an annual lottery and the
winner got stoned down with rock by the entire town, even the family helped. I realized that the
story that Jackson wrote and the quote by Nelson Mandela had a relationship between them.
When I thought back to “The Lottery” to think of who was had the most courage and who was
fearful in the story. I realized that Old Man Warner was the one. It was his 70th lottery, and he
was ready to get over with it. He even got upset when some town people told him that a nearby
town was going to stop doing the lottery. “They do say,” Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner,
who stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.”
Old Man Warner snorted. “Pack of crazy fools,” he said. This shows how upset Old Man Warner
got when he received the news that people even thought about giving up a tradition like the
lottery. Everyone in the town knew that it was Old Man Warner’s 70th lottery. Mr. Summers