Morales 2341 Spring 2015 Class MW discussion

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The Lottery
The Duality of Human Nature
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"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
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Lillian
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Jan 27, 2015 03:59PM

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“… the whole lottery took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten o'clock in the morning and still be through in time to allow the villagers to get home for noon dinner.” The Lottery by Shirley Jackson



““It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her. “ – The Lottery


"Here comes your Missus, Hutchinson," and "Bill, she made it after all." The Lottery by Shirley Jackson


“Listening to the young folks, nothing good enough for them…. Used to be a saying about ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There’s always been a lottery.”



Why would a civilized and peaceful town, would ever experience such horrifying acts of violence? The setting is a place where good ordinary people can turn evil and commit those crimes. Jackson's fiction is known for exploring incongruities in everyday life, and perhaps her most exemplary work in this respect, examines humanity's capacity for evil within a contemporary, familiar, American setting. “The Lottery.” Addresses a variety of themes, including the dark side of human nature, the danger of ritualized behavior, and the potential for cruelty when the individual submits to the masses will. Shirley Jackson also addresses cruelty by the citizen’s refusal to stand up and oppose “The Lottery.” Violence and cruelty is a major theme in “The Lottery.” Violence and cruelty are the main theme because of its violence and cruelty around the world. How can a peaceful town be crazy enough to follow ancient customs from the Stone Age? When does death become a good thing for the village? The villagers forgot the rest of the customs where they needed to became one for the better of the village. The villagers could have oppose the lottery or try to stop the killings instead of joining and throwing stones at the sentenced people. Why would anybody want to participate in something so horrifying full of violence and cruelty? How is it that nobody feels bad after killing someone that they loved? This village is definitely a cult, the villagers started to sing a “tuneless chant” and a “ritual salute” when they were sacrificing innocent people to honor their god.

The Holocaust example that you included is a perfect comparison as to cruel, and inhumane as to "The Lottery".

I agree with you, at this stage in life people already know right from wrong. I would never participate in such event. Horrific.



My favorite quote from the story the “The Lottery” was “ The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green”.



"Mrs Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."

I agree with Rosie what this town did to Mrs. Hutchinson was a heinous act. Tradition or not stoning a person to death is still murder.

I agree with you Suzette, because it is not right to murder someone for a ritual believing this will help the growth of their crops. it gave me chills just imagining in stoning my own mother, daughter or any other person.

I do not agree with you, although it was tradition and they had a mindset of what the Lottery was good for, in the end it’s still ending the life of an individual. Ending someone’s life in this situation equals murder.

I have to disagree with you suzette. There wasn't any fear in the story until the end when Mrs. Hutchinson was going to get stoned. Everyone in the town gathered around and talked to each with no concern. These people didn't know that they were doing wrong; therefore, I have to disagree with you.

I agree with you about the villagers being murderers, and how the story led the reader into a false sense of security with the way it began. The lottery seemed like a normal innocent occurrence which was obviously not the case since it ended up with someone being stoned to death by the townspeople.

I agree with you and your right about the inviting scene in the beginning just to turn dark in the end.

You did not answer the question whether it was murder or not? I do agree with the anxiety and the buildup but you need to answer whether it was murder or not


I agree with you 100 %. Everybody in the village made their own choice of becoming a murderer when they threw a stone at Tessie. It is a shame that nobody in the village had any kind of remorse of murdering a young child.

I was surprised with the story. I also thought of someone winning the lottery. How ironic that Shirley Jackson would consider naming her story for someone winning death. I would not want to win this lottery for sure.

I agree that many acts are carried out as a matter of tradition, but I disagree that it was a murder. Mrs. Hutchington was a willing participant in the lottery. She was not forced to participate. She was aware of the potential consequences by participating.

I disagree that the killing was murder, All those involved were willing participants. I use this as an example. If two boxers enter the ring at their own will, and one dies is the other boxer a murderer? The answer is no.

Marielena, I couldn't agree with you anymore! Believing that in order for crops to grow there had to be a death is absolutely nothing more than a myth. The main thing that crops do need is plenty of care and attention, not a sacrifice. Everyone had a choice and when they decided to take the life of another individual away when they participated in the beating of Mrs. Hutchinson, they engaged in a murder.

Luis, unfortunately I have to disagree with you. Although the village people saw the tradition as normal and joyous, taking the life of another indivual is nothing more than murder. Tradition or not murder is still murder!


Suzette I'm with you on this one, no person should be sacrifice for some crops. Innocent lives are being killed for a "tradition." If they want to kill then they should be aware of the consequences.

They do want to wash their hands because they don't want to be the ones killed, but like you say if they would stand up for what they believe nothing with murder would be happening.

Like you said, I don't think they should be basing any tradition on stoning people to death. When I started reading the story I also thought it was going to be a lucky lottery rather then an unlucky one. I think that's why this short story has been used in lit so much, because of the way it maneuvers its way into a more sinister plot.

I liked the way you analyzed the stone gathering by the kids. I thought the same thing, they were gathering stones described perfect for throwing. Murder was the case in this story, but the reasons are unknown.

Yes I did...

I agree with Pearl although this has been a tradition of the village for many years this act is still murder. This is a gruesome act that involves the murder of innocent villagers for the sake of a better crop season.

I agree with Alicia because I also never imagined that the story would have that kind of turning point.

Kimberly has a good point because there is always a way to end the tradition, but the people in the village were afraid to speak up.

I agree with you Monique. The people of the village are guilty of murder, they killed an innocent person for the sake of a tradition. None of the village people tried to stop it. Like you said without a doubt they are guilty of murder.

i couldnt agree with you more, i also think that there was alot of fear in putting an end, it was all a myth that they lived by.

yes, stoning is very inhumane to do without there being a severe consequence, it made me wonder if in this village they would stone someone who "won" the lottery what would happen to those in the village that would commit a crime?

I disagree with luis, because yes theybare guilty of tessie murder. No matter what the situation is or tradition no one deserves to be stoned in that brutal matter.

I strongly agree that the whole town is guilty of murder. I'm sure that even when the stoned someone to death, they still had a bad cropping season.

Nancy I can see why you pointed them out for murder. They seem like nice town people throughout the whole story but something totally unexpected happens at the end.