There are a lot of things to discuss and critic in a social science way for this story. Basically, it is about people in a small town hold an event called “the lottery” which was an annual tradition each year. However, the “winner” of the lottery will be then stoned to death by the town people.
Mainly, “The Lottery” is about the rituals and traditions follow as a member in the society. To judge whether the custom obscures right or wrong, is something impossible. Every culture or society in this world has their own ritual and own way to celebrate it. Generally, lottery is a drawing to determine a winner, but in this movie, the winner will be brutally murdered in a primitive ritual of stoning. The story questions me on; should we do this for the sake of tradition even though it’s hurting someone? Nevertheless, the town’s people can’t change what has been held for so long that this tradition has been lost for the time being which also some resist changing. Even the old man was saying that there is always been the lottery even some other town has given up for that event. We can see that all communities across the world practice different annual tradition. We all comfortable with yearly rituals which often widely unknown how these celebrations began in the first place. The tradition actually obscures the history of public ritual. The lottery tells me that producing good crops via human sacrifice actually better the crops output that the people get later on even if that person has done anything wrong. (Based on the old man saying “corn/crops heavy soon”) This tells me that the community refuse to stand as individuals and oppose the lottery and who instead automatically took part in the killing of an innocent and accepted member of their town with no apparent grief or remorse.
In the story, no one refuse to participate, and most of them seem to take part in that event with festive, humour and calmness feeling. A few do appear nervous, but it does not mean they can run away with it. Even the lottery encourages family members to stone their own family member. This tells me that tradition is important, but in this story, the people are lack of emotion which sometimes they just did without realising it is wrong and against human’s right. Again in the story, Tess was only protesting only because she will be stoned, but she would have been perfectly fine with the idea of being one of the attackers before. Essentially, the story of this ritual is sacrificed for the greater number and she should feel happy, proud and willing to sacrifice for the good of others but of course she was not going to do that. This shows that Tess has and authoritarian personality which she obeys the authorities, but then will protest when its harm herself. Then, the most unexpected scene in the story which I observed was, children collecting stones. It is like they have been trained to see the lottery as naturally as their parents were which it is like they have been instructed in savagery. The lottery has become completely self-perpetuating, mankind's essential nature to be brutal. These children are being taught by their society to kill. Cognitive affirmative being adapt to these children, which they watch and copied what people did.
Sometimes all the rituals are originated from the religion itself. Stone actually significant as a murder weapon and stoning actually come in the religious texts of Islam and Christianity. With that, stoning has a strong religious association with community punishment. However, why the towns people willingly to sacrifice a person by stoning them? They can just stab them and immediately died instead they torture them. I think that, they wanted each and every one to participate in the stoning activity so that the so call “superstitious” of producing good crops will actually happen. This tradition of the lottery may seem natural and inevitable to the people in the town, but I as the audience, knew that we can’t ritually kill a member in the town every year without serious moral consequences. The lottery event may appear to be a bonding ritual in which the rest of the town is brought closer together for sacrificing a member of that particular society. Based on sociology also, the social rules and processes can bind separate people as individuals and as a member as associations, groups, communities and institutions.
According to Emile Durkheim, it is sort of like social solidarity which they shared belief systems and values that holds societies together. So overall, this short story was a good example of an abnormal custom or tradition that has been practiced in some part of the world which sometimes include superstitious, ridiculous belief and does not even make sense. Though, they still keep their tradition as their identity in a certain community which we should give respect and avoid discrimination against them depends on their willingness to do that “certain” tradition.
{I have attached the short story in a pdf file and there are short movie about this story in 2 parts. Feel free to explore :) Cin Cin}
Mainly, “The Lottery” is about the rituals and traditions follow as a member in the society. To judge whether the custom obscures right or wrong, is something impossible. Every culture or society in this world has their own ritual and own way to celebrate it. Generally, lottery is a drawing to determine a winner, but in this movie, the winner will be brutally murdered in a primitive ritual of stoning. The story questions me on; should we do this for the sake of tradition even though it’s hurting someone? Nevertheless, the town’s people can’t change what has been held for so long that this tradition has been lost for the time being which also some resist changing. Even the old man was saying that there is always been the lottery even some other town has given up for that event. We can see that all communities across the world practice different annual tradition. We all comfortable with yearly rituals which often widely unknown how these celebrations began in the first place. The tradition actually obscures the history of public ritual. The lottery tells me that producing good crops via human sacrifice actually better the crops output that the people get later on even if that person has done anything wrong. (Based on the old man saying “corn/crops heavy soon”) This tells me that the community refuse to stand as individuals and oppose the lottery and who instead automatically took part in the killing of an innocent and accepted member of their town with no apparent grief or remorse.
In the story, no one refuse to participate, and most of them seem to take part in that event with festive, humour and calmness feeling. A few do appear nervous, but it does not mean they can run away with it. Even the lottery encourages family members to stone their own family member. This tells me that tradition is important, but in this story, the people are lack of emotion which sometimes they just did without realising it is wrong and against human’s right. Again in the story, Tess was only protesting only because she will be stoned, but she would have been perfectly fine with the idea of being one of the attackers before. Essentially, the story of this ritual is sacrificed for the greater number and she should feel happy, proud and willing to sacrifice for the good of others but of course she was not going to do that. This shows that Tess has and authoritarian personality which she obeys the authorities, but then will protest when its harm herself. Then, the most unexpected scene in the story which I observed was, children collecting stones. It is like they have been trained to see the lottery as naturally as their parents were which it is like they have been instructed in savagery. The lottery has become completely self-perpetuating, mankind's essential nature to be brutal. These children are being taught by their society to kill. Cognitive affirmative being adapt to these children, which they watch and copied what people did.
Sometimes all the rituals are originated from the religion itself. Stone actually significant as a murder weapon and stoning actually come in the religious texts of Islam and Christianity. With that, stoning has a strong religious association with community punishment. However, why the towns people willingly to sacrifice a person by stoning them? They can just stab them and immediately died instead they torture them. I think that, they wanted each and every one to participate in the stoning activity so that the so call “superstitious” of producing good crops will actually happen. This tradition of the lottery may seem natural and inevitable to the people in the town, but I as the audience, knew that we can’t ritually kill a member in the town every year without serious moral consequences. The lottery event may appear to be a bonding ritual in which the rest of the town is brought closer together for sacrificing a member of that particular society. Based on sociology also, the social rules and processes can bind separate people as individuals and as a member as associations, groups, communities and institutions.
According to Emile Durkheim, it is sort of like social solidarity which they shared belief systems and values that holds societies together. So overall, this short story was a good example of an abnormal custom or tradition that has been practiced in some part of the world which sometimes include superstitious, ridiculous belief and does not even make sense. Though, they still keep their tradition as their identity in a certain community which we should give respect and avoid discrimination against them depends on their willingness to do that “certain” tradition.
{I have attached the short story in a pdf file and there are short movie about this story in 2 parts. Feel free to explore :) Cin Cin}