Dangers of Blind Obedience Exposed in The Lottery
Most of us obey every day without a thought. People follow company dress code, state and federal laws and the assumed rules of courtesy. Those who do disobey are usually frowned upon or possibly even reprimanded. But has it even occurred to you that in some cases, disobedience may be the better course to choose? In her speech "Group Minds," Doris Lessing discusses these dangers of obedience, which are demonstrated in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery."
In "The Lottery," the villagers portray Lessing's observation that "it is the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion, as a member of a group" (334). The villagers also show, in a rather dramatic fashion, how being a blind follower of a group can be dangerous. As Lessing points out "the majority will continue to insist and after a period of exasperation the minority will fall into line"(334). This very sentiment is an enormous part of the inherent dangers of obeying a group.
The group behavior in "The Lottery" w...
“The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy” (William Hazlitt). The lottery by Shirley Jackson took place in the 1948, After WWII, people were still afraid to go into war again, on august 6 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and 3 days later another one on Nagasaki people were afraid. there was a lot of inhumanity at the time and The lottery shows a lot of what's happening at this time. "The Lottery" explores sudden shifts in opinion and friendship, giving the theme of hypocrisy, friendships and opinions mean nothing, they are all hollow, through the story you can see people's true nature and how they change the way they acted contradicting things they had said and done
The first time I read “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, I thought it would be about someone in a desperate situation who wins a large amount of money. However, after reading the story I was shocked and disgusted like millions of other readers because of what the “lottery” was all about. After my shock wore off I thought about why the author had chosen to be so cynical. It occurred to me that she needed to shock people into changing for the better. She believed that the biggest problem in her society were the people who would live their lives without thinking about changing themselves for the better. She stresses the importance of questioning the validity of everything as opposed to conforming blindly to the majority.
The Civil Rights era fostered a rejuvenation of the movement toward bilingual education. Amid with the desire of the nation to eliminate discrimination, the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 came into being. Certainly this act was at least in part the result of a growing num...
"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her” (Jackson). Power has a tendency to degenerate; supreme power defiles totally. In the short story The Lottery it was viewed as fortunate to be in a place of energy. The town was keep running in unexpected routes in comparison to most. Once every year they held the lottery, not as we probably am aware it. The individual in the town that pulls the correct card soon acknowledges how wrong they truly are. The individual to get the card with the strong dark speck is stoned to death. Shirley Jackson Shows how places of energy are critical to the characters that have them and have outcomes for different characters.
Obedience is when you do something you have been asked or ordered to do by someone in authority. As little kids we are taught to follow the rules of authority, weather it is a positive or negative effect. Stanley Milgram, the author of “The perils of Obedience” writes his experiment about how people follow the direction of an authority figure, and how it could be a threat. On the other hand Diana Baumrind article “Review of Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience,” is about how Milgram’s experiment was inhumane and how it is not valid. While both authors address how people obey an authority figure, Milgram focuses more on how his experiment was successful while Baumrind seems more concerned more with how Milgram’s experiment was flawed and
Through my research and findings of obedience to authority this ancient dilemma is somewhat confusing but needs understanding. Problem with obedience to authority has raised a question to why people obey or disobey and if there are any right time to obey or not to obey. Through observation of many standpoints on obedience and disobedience to authority, and determined through detailed examination conducted by Milgram “The Perils Of Obedience,” Doris Lessing “Group Minds” and Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”. We have to examine this information in hopes of understanding or at least be able to draw our own theories that can be supported and proven on this subject.
Obedience and disobedience play a huge role in our lives as humans. We begin with disobedience. With that, though, we develop the ability to choose to obey or disobey. In doing this, we obey the highest calling that we must: human nature. No matter how we modernize as a society, the primal instincts and decisions that rise up in every human being are very much the same as they have always been.
The limits of obedience to authority is an overall good idea and. In the short story, “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, supports the thought that blind obedience will only lead to bad things. Authority does not have to be a person; it can be an item or belief. Obedience to authority can lead to the destruction of that group and groups should never blindly follow anything, especially when they feel as if it is wrong. Obedience should be regulated and only occur when the demand of authority is rational and reasonable.
In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” the theme of the story is dramatically illustrated by Jackson’s unique tone. Once a year the villagers gather together in the central square for the lottery. The villagers await the arrival of Mr. Summers and the black box. Within the black box are folded slips of paper, one piece having a black dot on it. All the villagers then draw a piece of paper out of the box. Whoever gets the paper with the black dot wins. Tessie Hutchinson wins the lottery! Everyone then closes in on her and stones her to death. Tessie Hutchinson believes it is not fair because she was picked. The villagers do not know why the lottery continues to exist. All they know is that it is a tradition they are not willing to abandon. In “The Lottery,” Jackson portrays three main themes including tradition, treason, and violence.
Overall I was impressed with this text. It was difficult for me to find an inaccurate historical event because I found myself learning about topics I had never heard of before. His ability to incorporate the little picture with the big made for informative chapters, with more context than an ordinary textbook would have. Compared to other textbooks I have encountered, this one addresses facts, stories, the "little people" and diversity in a way that none is more important than the other and encourages us to criticize and also appreciate the United States.
In Shirley Jackson’s "The Lottery," what appears to be an ordinary day in a small town takes an evil turn when a woman is stoned to death after "winning" the town lottery. The lottery in this story reflects an old tradition of sacrificing a scapegoat in order to encourage the growth of crops. But this story is not about the past, for through the actions of the town, Jackson shows us many of the social ills that exist in our own lives.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author of the The Yellow Wallpaper, describes the descent into madness of a young woman at the end of the 19th century. There are two main causes for this spiral through the looking glass. The first is sociocultural in nature, revolving around the woman's traditional role in society. The second reason is more personal to the protagonist as she is purposefully kept from functions and activities that were her sole enrichments in the name of health and love.
In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson was written in 1948. The story takes place in a village square of a town on June 27th. The author does not use much emotion in the writing to show how the barbaric act that is going on is look at as normal. This story is about a town that has a lottery once a year to choose who should be sacrificed, so that the town will have a plentiful year for growing crops. Jackson has many messages about human nature in this short story. The most important message she conveys is how cruel and violent people can be to one another. Another very significant message she conveys is how custom and tradition can hold great power over people. Jackson also conveys the message of how men treat women as objects.
One of the first theories that Durkheim used relates to "The Lottery" is typology of societies based on solidarity. He stated that the type and level of solidarity is determined by the organization of the society. The division of labor is included in the organization of societies. This definition of Durkheim's theory is used in The Lottery. First, the lottery rules of participation reflect a rigid social hierarchy based upon an inequitable social division of labor. Also, the villagers believe unconsciously that their commitment to a work ethic will grant them some magical immunity from the selection of the black box. This work ethic prevents them from understanding that the lottery's actual function is not to encourage work bur to reinforce an inequitable social division of labor. This town is considered a mechanical society, in that of they all had a high degree of regulation and the thoughts and actions of individuals within the society. The town has a small society, consisting of only 300 people. Between the post office and the bank is where the lottery is held, which shows simple organization. Also the leader of the town was a coal miner, not too many high organizations. The traditions of the lottery show the shared values and beliefs. The lottery and its consequences show the simple, repressive laws and harsh punishment. However, "the conscience theory", or shared mental facts of a group, is the basis of social bonds that is also related. This is related because the fact is the town all agreed on the lottery and its outcome. It is a tradition and a set way for the people in the lottery. The attitudes might change when their name is called, but the fact is that the lottery is a shared belief that their society has.