Combs 1 Emily Combs Hiday Eng104 s76 Feb 5th, 2013 Moral Ambiguity One of the very first

things we are taught as children is the concept of right and wrong and the difference between the two. Our parents and elders teach us what is appropriate and what is not and most of us base our lives around what we learn. There are many cultures in this world, each with their own standards and definitions of right and wrong, what is acceptable and what is not, though we all share several fundamental concepts. One of these is that killing without cause is wrong. Some will argue that killing in general is wrong, who are we to decide when death is justifiable? In Shirley Jacksons The Lottery we are presented with a group of people living in a society where they are taught to believe that once a year, every year, one person must be stoned to death. Most of the people seem to not enjoy the traditions, and there are hints that they , like us, are taught that killing is wrong, which conflicts with the tradition of the lottery since it results in murder, but nonetheless they go along with it because it is what they are raised to do. There are a few mild hints of protest to the lottery as it is going on. Two people talk of the lottery being abandoned in the future, or already having been abandoned in some places. The eldest member of the village, Old Man Warner, who represents tradition and the old ways, immediately rebukes their words. Pack of crazy foolstheyll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that

Combs 2 way for a whileLottery in June, corn be heavy soon.wed all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. (para 33.) He reminds them of what they have always been taught to believe, that the lottery is essential to their survival and to the functioning of their society, implying that the end of the lottery would be the end of them. Compare this to the reason we do not topple governments every other day or rise up against the Law unless we have dire need. People are content with their lives, able to overlook the bad and focus on the good in the long run, allowing things to continue on as they are. It could be argued that this is why the people allow the lottery to continue each year even though inwardly they have objections about it. In the beginning as the villagers begin to gather together, they are behaving normallygossiping and idle chatter among the adults, rambunctious play among the childrenbut as things begin, the mood darkens. Words like regretfully and gravely are used to describe their mannerisms and speech throughout the event. There is a general feeling of anxiousness and several people state that they wish the whole thing would just hurry up and be over. Mr. Summers said soberly, guess we better get started, get this over with, sos we can get back to work (para 10). Once Tessie Hutchinson is selected they seem keen to kill her and be done with it, telling each other to hurry and egging each other on; there is no real protesting about the lottery itself as stated earlier. In fact, the first objections do not come until the family has been selected. Upon realizing that one of her family would be killed shortly, Tessie Hutchinson immediately starts to protest. She repeatedly shouts, Its wasnt fair! (para 46, 52, 61). Yet despite other peoples reservations no one steps forward to agree with her. Some people tell her

Combs 3 to shut up and Be a good sport (para 47). It is probably safe to assume that in prior years Tessie, like all of the others who were spared, never once objected and always participated in stoning the person who was chosen. This, though, poses the question: did the person chosen always protest? Telling someone to be a good sport when he or she or one of their immediate family is about to be killed seems too jovial. Perhaps they are used to the selected people protesting and therefore are easily able to tell them to stop. Tessie may not have been the first, and definitely wouldnt be the last, but it leaves us to wonder how many years people have spoken out against being chosen. They may not have been in the beginning when the lottery began and the idea that the lottery was essential was first rooted in their heads. Maybe in the beginning the person chosen considered it to be an honor, but over time as traditions were lost and memories skewed, the integrity of the position was forgotten. Despite the general reluctance to dissent, there is an obvious relief when the Hutchinson children are spared. One of the girls in the audience stated, I hope its not Nancy before they opened their slips of paper (para 68). However there is no evidence to support that they would not have killed her or either of her brothers if they had been selected. What is arguably the worst of all, as they were gathering to stone Tessie, is that someone gave Davy Hutchinson, the youngest of the Hutchinson children, some rocks as well. There is no mention of the rest of the family, but if the youngest child was given stones to kill his mother with, then it can be assumed that his older brother and sisters participated as well, along with their father. So not only are the lottery winners stoned to death by their friends and neighbors, but by their families as well.

Combs 4 With such conflicting morals guiding them, one has to wonder whether or not the people in this society should be condemned for their actions. On the one hand, they are well aware that they are committing murder, but on the other, they are simply doing what they were raised to do. Hundreds of years ago people were sacrificed to gods to bring rain or prosperity, as instructed by their religious leaders and ancestors. Are the people in this story worse than the people in those ancient cultures? William Shakespeare once wrote, [nothing is] either good or bad, but thinking makes it so (Hamlet, i.250-251). In the end, nothing is necessarily right or wrong; it all depends on how an individual sees it.

Combs 5 Works Cited Crowther, John, ed. No Fear Hamlet. SparkNotes LLC. 2005. Web. 17 Jan. 2013. Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Lottery. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.