As we were discussing "The Lottery" today in class, I started formulating some ideas of my own in regards to its deeper meaning...
What if "The Lottery" is a metaphor for our society? No, we don't stone people and we aren't willing to sacrifice our friends for this fall's crop... or are we??? The story begins with a description of a perfectly wonderful summer day-- the sky is clear and sunny, it's warm out, the flowers are blooming, the grass is green, etc. Yeah, it looks great... but once we reach the end of the story we discover that there is something terribly wrong in this society, and they don't even realize it, and the only person who does realize that something is wrong (Mrs. Hutchinson) is not in a position to assert her opinion and expect others to listen.
Now, I realize that it might be a little bit difficult to see the comparisons I am about to make, but please bear with me. Look at our society, think about the American Dream. Sounds great, doesn't it? What sacrifices do we make to reach our goal of the "American Dream?" If we want success, if we want wealth, money doesn't grow on trees, does it? Look at our economic crisis, look at the debt... Americans have dug themselves a deep hole that will be difficult to get out of-- all for what? The "American way of life"-- symbols of wealth: big houses, nice cars, etc. (after all, they are only symbols of wealth if we are indebting ourselves to get them). We didn't realize that something was wrong until it was too late to be undone... does that sound like anyone? (i.e. Mrs. Hutchinson?)
But, the sacrifice of indebtedness is little compared to the larger sacrifice that we make as a society but rarely notice. In our quest for success, a good job, etc., how much time do we spend with our parents? Our friends? Our community as a whole? Sometimes we don't even realize how much difficulty we have making time for people. After all, what would our success be worth if we couldn't share it? I know we've all heard variations of that before, but, really, think about it. Are we sacrificing our relationships in order to achieve success, like the town sacrificed one person each year in hopes of a successful crop? Society is individualized for the most part-- we work most of the day, most of the week, most of the year, we become successful, and with whatever time is leftover maybe we'll spend time with friends or family. Are our priorities mixed up?
As I mentioned above, the American Dream looks great, doesn't it? The town in "The Lottery" looked great, too. There was a real problem, though, in the town. They sacrificed a friend, a coworker, someone that they knew and loved, in hopes of a successful crop. Are we, too, sacrificing our relationships in hopes of success?
I realize that I may be sounding a bit too extreme-- I know we don't all live under rocks and we aren't all anti-social...but I'm just trying to make a point.
Emily Thompson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
This is sort of an afterthought...
I know this doesn't follow the metaphor completely, but we briefly touched today upon the idea that the use of the lottery made human life go from valuable to expendable in the flip of a piece of paper. This devaluation of human life simply by ritual-- is it okay simply because it is a commonly agreed upon by society and practiced on a regular basis?
I know I will be stepping on some toes by saying this, but what about abortion? Just because society says its okay and acceptable, does that make it right? Isn't human life being treated as expendable, therefore being devalued?
Just food for thought... please don't rig the lottery next time around so that I am the "winner"...
Emily T.
I tend to see the Lottery as more of an argument against tradition for traditions sake. As Mr.Laz brought up, the villagers perform this act out of reverence for ritual and tradition more than anything else. It is explicitly stated that they forget the rituals and proceedings that went along with the stoning, presumably to appease the "gods". They no longer have the garments they are supposed to wear, they no longer have the original box. All they remember is how to use stones. I think that this can also be linked to the id concept, using tradition as justification for the outlet of violent and otherwise unacceptable "id" energy in the form of stoning someone to death.
(Steve Szumski)
While I see your point, Emily, I am not completely convinced of your metaphor.
In the story, the people believed that the sacrifice was made for the greater good of everyone. They had to make a sacrifice so that everyone would have enough food in order to survive. Some people even lost that concept and were just following tradition.
The "American Dream", on the other hand, is pretty selfish. The 'sacrifices' in this case are really only meant to help yourself. Also, you are aware of most of the sacrifices you do make. You are not really following a tradition. When you go to your job instead of hanging out with your friends, you know that you are sacrificing a bit of your relationship and time with them.
In terms of abortion, I think that everyone has their own opinion whether or not it is 'right.' Everyone has a different definition and different values.
In regards to the id concept, I don't really buy it. I really don't think that these people are stoning others just to release this 'id energy.' I also disagree with the part of the id concept that talks about appeasing the id part by doing this to release it. It goes back to what Connor brought up in class. Will a kid really stop being violent by playing violent video games? There's a reason why some games are rated M for mature due to their violence. And there's also the whole 'monkey see monkey do' concept. I really just don't agree with the id concept.
Hmm...
Well, I feel that the Lottery isn't quite analogous to the American Dream. After all, the lottery was a tradition of social cohesion and necessity that placed the needs of society over the needs of an individual. Basically, one person was sacrificed for the good of the community.
But in the pursuit of the American Dream, society does not force us to sacrifice something for the good of everyone else...We willingly make sacrifices in the pursuit of our own individual goals. Just as Governator Arnold willingly and purposely put aside his feelings in order to succeed, the individual, not the society, chooses to make the necessary sacrifices.
I feel that the story ties in more with Steve's comment regarding tradition. We've just seen how barbaric and useless the village's tradition was, which leads us to question: how legitimate are our traditions?
Regarding the id, Mr. Lazarow did point out that the village's tradition of stoning is not a reflection of their id but is instead of their ego. Because society sanctioned the lottery as a tradition, the stoning wasn't necessarily mindless violence but was carried out for the overall good of society.
It was interesting to how the village was unable to escape the rigid structures of tradition: At a certain point, the villagers were carrying out the stoning only because it was just the way things had always been. Even Tessie did not question the legitimacy of the entire ritual. She only quibbled that the drawing and procedure of the lottery was unfair, not the lottery itself.
Just a few thoughts.
(Eric Wei)
I agree that the town in "The Lottery" seemed peachy keen and that the "American Dream" is a rather appealing idea, yet, like Emily said, they both carry flaws. In fact, almost everything does.
It is really a shame that we sacrifice time with loved ones for work. But if we hope to succeed, we are expected to comply with the standards set for future leaders of America. Yes, I understand that Emily was metaphorically speaking, buy depriving ourselves of time with friends and relatives is clearly not similar to stoning them to death. The tradition was mandatory, and if a citizen were to object to it, I can imagine they would be subject to harsh punishment. We don't all have to be successful; we just want to be! Like Eric said, it comes down to required vs. voluntary.
Isn't the "American Dream" met when one steps outside of a norm in order to produce an anomalous situation? The citizens in "The Lottery" were merely continuing with tradition. The reason for the stoning was never even mentioned by Shirley Jackson. Does this signify its insignifigance? Have the stonings become empty rituals?
We don't have authority to say whether abortion is right or wrong. Some classify it as murder, and some do not. Although this could be classified as the devaluation of human life, how is abortion related to the "American Dream" in any way? If anything, it's part of the "American Nightmare".
Readers of this short story were appalled at the idea that Jackson was remotely capable of suggesting that these horrid pastimes belonged to communities in small town America. This was merely because they failed to imagine themselves in the shoes of the townspeople to whom a healthy crop mattered greatly.
There is one last reason why I don't feel that "The Lottery" is like the "American Dream". In one instance, the majority wins; in the other, a slight minority takes home the trophy.
All of my points are choppy, but I hope someone sees some coherence in my chains of thought.
(Sam Maliha)
I just have a few remarks concerning Sam's last post... sorry if I didn't make my point clear and/or didn't explain it enough. Hearing all of your thoughts has helped me more clearly formulate mine. Here are some quotes and my input following each one:
1) "We don't all have to be successful; we just want to be! Like Eric said, it comes down to required vs. voluntary."
Yes, we want to be successful... but so did the people in the village, they wanted a successful crop. In addition, how does our society look on people who don't strive for success? Isn't the automatic response in our society to regard that person as lazy... doesn't that make the goal of success something imposed by society?
2) "Isn't the "American Dream" met when one steps outside of a norm in order to produce an anomalous situation?"
First of all, we might have different definitions of the "American Dream". I see the American Dream as the "nice house, two cars, good job that makes good money" idea. Now, wouldn't this be considered the norm-- what most people strive for (after all, "dream" implies something that is not necessarily a reality yet).
3) "...how is abortion related to the "American Dream" in any way?"
The comment that I added after my post was not meant to be related to the American Dream, simply to the story and the concept discussed in class about the devaluation of human life practiced by the society.
4) "There is one last reason why I don't feel that "The Lottery" is like the "American Dream". In one instance, the majority wins; in the other, a slight minority takes home the trophy."
I think there is a bit of confusion here... sorry if I didn't make my point clear. I am not trying to say that those striving after the American Dream with all of their might are the winners-- my point is that they're the losers. They're the ones being "stoned to death" because after all they go through for success, where are their meaningful human relationships? In this sense, by conforming to society, we are stoning ourselves, but until we're in too deep, we don't even realize it. We look around, and we realize that our friends are gone (unless we stop and think about it, we are generally unaware of the sacrifices that we're making)...
I realize, again that this would be a very extreme case-- I'm just trying to get my point across. I realize that there are differences between the story and my analogy, but my original idea was just to get my thoughts out there... I appreciate the thoughts of all of you who have commented so far!
Emily Thompson
Maybe successful goals are imposed in OUR society, but this is far from true in other societies. We may have been voted the number one town, but Camden remains on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Once again, we can't generalize that most people strive for a "nice house, two cars, good job that makes good money". You're right, we have different definitions of the American Dream.
I wasn't in any way attacking your comment on abortion. I was merely voicing my confusion. In fact, I do believe that abortion is an extreme devaluation of human life. Thanks for your clarification.
(Sam Maliha)
Post a Comment