We read this story in class, and had to answer this question.
How does the lottery prevent the breakdown of society in this community? Can someone please further breakdown this question so I can understand it. Because I think that the lottery is breaking down the society, not preventing it. But my teacher said that was wrong.
2007-10-20 11:19:32 · 3 answers · asked by Whitney 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
The first basic problem with "The Lottery" is that it keeps the population of their society in check with the removal of one person per year. As a lottery, it is fair, as a moral injustice, it is unfair.
You were correct in assuming that it is a break down in society, because it was an unneccessary practice that had become an unneccessary and unwelcome tradition. You could use as the basis of support for your arguments the disappearance of the Mayans and the Incas, who both practiced human sacrifice, yet in the end did not make their societies permanent or protected from the Spanish invasion.
The teacher's viewpoint is that as a lottery it is an impartial system for selecting a candidate for human sacrifice, however, the purpose for the lottery in the first place is too obscure to use as a basis for argument.
In the end, stand by your opinion. Any society that systematically removes certain people for unneccessary reasons is ultimately doomed to fail. People will not stay in and support community where the terror of being killed for no reason is imminent, especially in real life. Hey, if you had such a lottery in your town, would you hang around?
2007-10-20 11:58:26 · answer #1 · answered by enn 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is controlled violence. It is why the government uses ritualized murder, ( capital punishment ) rather than taking the convict out back, and putting a bullet through his head.
2007-10-20 11:36:48 · answer #2 · answered by DAKal 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basically it's about tradition, their twisted version of equality and fairness.
2007-10-20 11:29:26 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋