In this story, the towns people potrayed just that: weakness against change. There were many reasons for this falter, and in this particular situation: the older generation was stagnant when it came to breaking the unlawful tradition. The reason the town followed the tradition was for no other reason than it was what they had always known. Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, said “There’s always been a lottery”(2). When Mrs. Adams said “some places have already quit lotteries”(2), Old Man Warner responded by saying “nothing but trouble in that… Pack of young fools”(2).
Cooperjames from “The beacon” and Mr. Summers from “The Lottery”, who are both are responsible for keeping the tradition alive, and executing most of the activities of the ritual, there is a particular difference between the two stories in terms of how the rituals could be morally criticized by the viewer and lector respectively. In “The Beacon” the character of Dr. Barrows who is an outsider and not a member of the village, strongly objects and ever interferes with the beacons will by curing the chosen little girl who was supposed to die, with that happened the villagers decided to carry on with the ritual and kill Dr. Barrows in place of the little girl. On the other hand, in “The Lottery”, it is one of the village member Mrs. Hutchinson who tries to avoid the ceremony by forgetting the date and then arriving late to the event with a suspicious attitude of excusing herself, and even after her family draws the black dot she continuously showed signs of disagreement by saying “You didn’t give him time enough to take any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn’t fair!” and she continues to argue the unfairness of the ceremony, but she doesn’t do anything about it and accepts that’s the way the ritual has always been and she is stoned.
Bullfighting is just too dangerous a practice for humans to justify. While some customs posses a positive effect, some customs also posses a negative effect and can even be inhumane. Two examples include the custom of stoning portrayed in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" and the practice of bullfighting seen in Spanish influenced countries around the world. Bullfighting should be brought to and end because of the violent and cruel nature, the use of murder as entertainment, and due to the potential harm and even death to all parties involved. Society today does not have room for barbaric traditions such as
An easy accusation of one’s name could tarnish their reputation and ruin their career. This happens to many citizens in Salem when they are charged with the involvement of witchcraft and do not wish to confess to such an outrageous allegation in honor of their good name. The Crucible is a perfect depiction in how intolerance and paranoia of the supernatural can tear a community apart. The devil and sorcery is used as a scapegoat to cover up ones personal mistakes and bad coincidences. If there is something wrong with the plants or the animals keep dying, it must be the work of black magic.
Mayor Edward Koch claims that to help the penalty for murder would be a huge insult to the victims, other than David Bruck correctly argues that justice is not served by creating another victim accountable for the things that he or she have done. The death penalty is a horrible thing that I do not agree with.
The author in this case is trying to test the idea of blame and the security it brings within her characters in the novel. "The media - a wave as unwelcome as a tsunami." This quote shows that in this small town something on such a large or violent scale has never happened before. It is showing that the ‘small town’ mentality was still around and was broken in part by the media, but also ripped apart by Peter’s actions. The idea of blame is continued in the novel as the media yet again determines who should be held responsible, "In addition there is evidence that Peter was a fan of the hard core death metal
He died February 10, 2005. In this story a man was put to test to see what he valued more life or his beliefs. Integrity is a crucial theme in The Crucible and it is a big struggle for many of the characters in the story. The fact is that if they did show integrity and claimed the had not made a pact with the devil they were seen as liars and would hang for being witches, but when they would “confess” to trafficking with the devil they would be jailed. Though lying is a sin, many villagers chose to set aside their beliefs and “confess” to these allegations of witchery.
In the text there is an outbreak of cholera, also referred to as a “plague”. The Venetians have decided to keep this plague a secret from tourists as tourism is a main contribution to their total revenue. Gustav Acshenbach has figured out something is going on, he asks around but almost everyone is willing to lie in order to protect their own interests. The choice can be considered wrong behaviour, many people may die because they did not know about the disease. Keeping this secret could be considered murder, which is against the law and morally very wrong.
A radical religion called Puritanism was vitally important to the people of Salem, and they were extraordinarily paranoid of the Devil. Two characters in the book The Crucible demonstrate how Puritanism affected the society. Judge Danforth is an example of religious ignorance and ends up being the person who condemns everyone, suspecting they are all witches. On the other hand, John Proctor is a level headed farmer who watches as his friends and their wives are accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death, that is, until his own wife is accused. Using these foil characters, Arthur Miller exemplifies the difference between people who are weak minded and cowardly versus people who are strong-minded and brave.
However, the habitual acceptance of the lottery has made ritual homicide a part of the community lore. When murmurs about change begin to drift through the town, the superstitious voice of Old Man Warner makes the townspeople fear that their whole way of life would fall apart without this grisly drawing. The random elements of society violence also appear as a theme in "The Lottery." There is no reason for Tessie Hutchinson to die other than that she happened to draw the wrong slip of paper. However, once that took place, she stopped being a member of the community.