The Lottery
Destini Lloyd
Joy Surles
Eng 113
March 26, 2013
The Lottery What is the definition of inhumanity? Inhumanity is great cruelty and a lack of humanity. Once you understand that a normal human being would then question how people could be so cruel to one another. The inhumanity of taking chance is evident in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The author paints a vivid picture of how taking a gamble is not worth the loss. The mindset of traditionalism, selfishness, and inhumanness speaks volume in this story. They show traditionalism because they are so used to having such lotteries year after year; it’s traditional. As the story continues the people show a lack of concern for whomever it is that get picked. “The lottery” portrays the villagers to be inhuman because of readiness to get on with the stoning and making it back at home in time to do daily chores. What is stoning? Stoning is a form of capital punishment where a group of people throw stones at someone until death captivates them. No individual among the group can be defined as the actual killer. Stoning is one of the oldest forms of capital punishment and is still very much used through the middles east and parts of Africa. This originated from Judaism. (Five ancient methods still Used today) The lottery is an event that takes place every year in the town. Basically it’s a black box with a bunch of slips of paper inside of it. One of those slips of papers however has a black dot on it. Every single person in the town has to get a piece of paper from the box and whoever chooses the slip with the black dot on it will be stoned to death. When the lottery begins, he lays out a series of specific rules for the villagers, including who should draw slips of paper from the black box and when to open those papers. When someone is unable to draw, the lottery rules determine who should be next in line (Editors) . It’s really a randomness of persecution. Villagers persecute individuals at random, and the
Joy Surles
Eng 113
March 26, 2013
The Lottery What is the definition of inhumanity? Inhumanity is great cruelty and a lack of humanity. Once you understand that a normal human being would then question how people could be so cruel to one another. The inhumanity of taking chance is evident in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. The author paints a vivid picture of how taking a gamble is not worth the loss. The mindset of traditionalism, selfishness, and inhumanness speaks volume in this story. They show traditionalism because they are so used to having such lotteries year after year; it’s traditional. As the story continues the people show a lack of concern for whomever it is that get picked. “The lottery” portrays the villagers to be inhuman because of readiness to get on with the stoning and making it back at home in time to do daily chores. What is stoning? Stoning is a form of capital punishment where a group of people throw stones at someone until death captivates them. No individual among the group can be defined as the actual killer. Stoning is one of the oldest forms of capital punishment and is still very much used through the middles east and parts of Africa. This originated from Judaism. (Five ancient methods still Used today) The lottery is an event that takes place every year in the town. Basically it’s a black box with a bunch of slips of paper inside of it. One of those slips of papers however has a black dot on it. Every single person in the town has to get a piece of paper from the box and whoever chooses the slip with the black dot on it will be stoned to death. When the lottery begins, he lays out a series of specific rules for the villagers, including who should draw slips of paper from the black box and when to open those papers. When someone is unable to draw, the lottery rules determine who should be next in line (Editors) . It’s really a randomness of persecution. Villagers persecute individuals at random, and the
Cited: Editors, Sparknote. Spark notes. n.d. <http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-lottery/themes.html>. Five ancient methods still Used today. 2012. <http://myfivebest.com/five-ancient-execution-methods-still-used-today/>. Wikepdia, the free encylopedia. Wikepedia. n.d. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lottery>.