Comparing Morality In The Lottery And The Song Tra Bong

Some individuals believe that the nature of morality is inherently subjective, as individuals perceive morality through the kaleidoscope of their own viewpoint. The short stories The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, The Geranium by Patricia Grace, The Lamb To The Slaughter by Roald Dahl, and Sweetheart Of The Song Tra Bong by Tim O'Brien explore the subjective nature of morality. This is revealed through exploring how tradition can blind us from discerning morality, and how decisions or actions can warp a person’s perception of morality.

The Lottery and The Geranium argue that an ingrained ideal of tradition can collide with one’s subjective sense of morality. This is because tradition can cloak immoral behavior in the guise of virtue. In The Lottery,

By the 1990s, society was beginning to recognise the moral flaws in blindly adhering to the patriarchal system; however, because Marney still follows this tradition, she has become disillusioned with life, which is evident when “she pulled the plug and watched the sink emptying, watched the water turning, heard it rushing in the drain.” We can see how Marney is resigned to her current life, showing her obedience until the end. Despite the confinement she experiences in a place she calls home, Marney feels compelled to conform to the traditional gender role of a submissive housewife, perpetuating the cycle of being a woman subjected to the dynamics of an abusive relationship. This ultimately links to how an immoral societal tradition can disguise itself in the form of morality. The villagers in The Lottery and Marney in The Geranium collectively show how an ingrained ideal derived from tradition can collide with morality while masking immorality. Both stories showcase how morality is not objective in its nature; it is rather subjective. In The Lottery, the black

This is because a person's moral perception can change under the influence of their choices or behaviours. In The Lamb To The Slaughter, this ideal is projected through a traditional housewife, Mary, who awaits the arrival of her husband after completing endless in-house chores. This profiles Mary’s enjoyment of her role as a housewife and her entitlement to the domesticity of her lifestyle. Soon after her husband discloses his ongoing affair, Mary’s passive demeanour gives way to intrusive impulses, as depicted by, “When she walked across the room, she couldn't feel her feet touching the floor. She couldn't feel anything except a slight sickness. She did everything without thinking. She went downstairs to the freezer and took hold of the first object she found. She lifted it out, and looked at it.” Mary’s subjective moral overview shifts as she comes to believe that it is morally righteous to murder her husband and still uphold her status as his wife, rather than letting him leave and forfeiting her position. Mary had been fully committed to being moral until her husband’s immoral acts. This leads her to recognise that the notion of morality is a subjective facade imposed on her and how the response to immorality can be morally justifiable based off its subjective nature, regardless of its degree. This