Why do you think the author kept the tone of the story positive and then unfolded these negative feelings from the citizens the closer to the end you get?
So I want to ask a question that is very relevant to Casey's question. What were you guys thinking throughout the entire story, focusing on the reward of the lottery? I throughout was thinking that it must be something bad because the community was too peaceful, but I wasn't sure what this bad thing was going to be. What were your ideas?
I don't really see how this is a good thing for the society. I mean they get a chance to let lose and stuff but they know these people, and they're their friends. I don't see how the society could function well after treating a person of their society so terribly.
I think the author wanted to keep her intentions hidden so that it makes that last part such a surprise. This surprise then makes the story something someone will talk about or remember.
I agree with Melanie. From the title and throughout the whole story until the very last page, I thought that the Lottery was a good thing. The tone of the first paragraph made it seem like it was a good thing by using words like "fresh warmth of a full-summer day" "the flowers were blossoming" and "the grass was richly green". Even the anxiety of all of the villagers just made it seem like they were anxious to see who won versus anxious to see who would be killed.
I think that the author unfolded the negativity in the end to show how the villagers are trying to put a brave face on but when the family "wins" the lottery, they realize that a real person is going to get stoned and it is someone they know and respect. And then it goes from fun and games to someone getting hurt.
Aaron-I think that this went along with the idea of gothicism. Two very opposite things within one. At the beginning they say, "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with fresh warmth of a full-summer day". This puts forth the very positive spin, however at the end when the violence comes you see the opposite and really bad part of it. Maybe the lottery was there in a way to balance the community, because everyone seemed to get along really well and everything was in great order, however they balanced this with the very negative occurance (and meaning) of the lottery at the end. Would you agree with me? What were your thoughts while reading it?
@David, I agree with Aaron. It does seem really pointless, it's just one of those traditions the town has. They seem very superstitious about what could happen if anything is changed, which is why I think they keep doing it.
@nate: I think the first lottery probably started for in the eyes of the people a good cause, but after it had occurred for so many years, people were afraid to change. As it says on the first page "but no one liked to upset eve as much tradition as was represented by the black box".
Traditionally, it is the role of the man to protect his wife and family. Why do you think that the author chose to take this role of protection and make it so that the man was the one that was supposed to draw in the lottery and cause someone in his family to be hurt?
@Laura, I agree that the authors of the Gothicism movement aren't against happiness. But i don't think they were trying to make the readers think or challenge the system. I think they were trying to convey conflicting emotions in the text.
Taking off of the conversation in the center circle, did it appear that any of the men ever were stoned? Because all of the men were participating with the slips, do you think that whenever they drew the slip, the women was always the one to be stoned? What do you think the purpose of the lottery was besides the tradition aspect? They mentioned the fact that the population was larger now than it had been in the past and therefore the lottery occured more often, do you think then the reason for the lottery may have come down to the fact that they were trying to keep the population down? Was that the entire reason as for why they had the lottery?
I agree with Laura. We've seen all the changes throughout the different eras of literature. Each time there is a new kind of literature, they challenge the ideas of learning was before. An example is rationalism which was challenging the ideas of the church.
I'm not sure that challenging the system is relevant to Gothisicism. I think that gothicism is centered mainly around darkness. Not necessarily sorrow but, shadowous and illuminous. Again I agree that it is not against happiness; however I don't think it is applicable to gothic writing.
@Aaron It's for the same reason like why do we celebrate by trick or treating, or July 4th when we blow things up? It's cultural and it depends on the society.
Aaron-Now that Brit just is relating it to religion, I almost wonder if it is a sacrifice. Do you think that it could possibly be that situation, and that they might be celebrating to a religion in an symbolized or sort of hidden way?
@Aaron: I think that it is a celebration because it was more of a "better you than me" type of mentality. If stoning someone that you know means that you will be able to live at least until the next lottery then why not?
@Kylie, I don't think it was always the women of the house, it seemed very at random. But to answer the second question of the purpose of the lottery, I feel like the only purpose was tradition. Because they were saying how other towns had given up The Lottery and that everything was still fine. So it really was tradition. And what if someone had spoken up and decided against The Lottery? Would they have been stoned as well, because they had spoken against the tradition? was it fear that made them continue it?
@Aaron its like how people used to go to the beheadings during the French Revolution. They practically made it into a normal family outing or a picnic. It doesn't mean it's right but thats how they viewed it.
Zoe-How do you think a tradition like this would come around though, it seems like such a strange thing to just begin doing...like who would start a tradition like that?
Based off Emily and Melanie, do you think there is a parallel to the Holocaust with this writing? Considering the year it was written (1948), it seems likely. Kind of this idea of accusing for no reason.
@Kylie: I agree with Zoe, I don't necessarily think that women were targeted in the lottery. It was very random and "fair" you could say. It seems like as long as someone was killed or sacrificed if religion was involved, then everything was okay, it didn't really matter whether they were male of female.
I think there could be the possibility that the Lottery may not be completely random. As the inner circle said, it is interesting that the single member that arrives late happens to be the person that gets stoned. Do you guys think there could be the possibility that the lottery may not be based on probability and luck?
@Kylie, I agree it is a really weird and morbid tradition. However I couldn't even begin to guess how something like this came up, and in more than one town as well.
@Aaron I think that the story could easily be related to the Holocaust. Like what Kyler said, people in the story were used as scapegoats, just like the Jews during the Nazi reign from the Holocaust. They were seen as the people that they could get rid of and they would be fine, like there was no after-affect, basically.
@David, No I think it was all based on chance. Because it says "It has a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers has made the night before..." SO he had not know that she would show up late. Thus making it just chance.
Aaron: You raise a good point. If you think about it, this story could be attributed to the Holocaust. If the Lottery is in fact completely random, then one could make the argument that Mrs. Hutchinson could represent the Jewish population, or even anyone that had been stoned. From an outside view, it appeared as though the Jews were randomly selected to be killed. This is obviously similar to all of those that were picked from the lottery and executed.
@Nate I agree, just like The Crucible was a response to McCarthyism which was occurring at that time, The Lottery could be a response to like Aaron said the Holocaust or some other historical event
Zoe:Because of the fact that it seems hard for us to come up with a reason why someone would start this tradition makes me think as though there must be more of a reason for it. There would probably be something of a religious or maybe governmental reason why this would occur.
@Laura: i completely agree. The Aztecs, as connor said, had been sacrificing people for so long they didn't view it as immoral or wrong. The only difference is, the Aztecs usually sacrificed prisoners, not people who were part of the community.
Why do you think the author kept the tone of the story positive and then unfolded these negative feelings from the citizens the closer to the end you get?
ReplyDeleteSo I want to ask a question that is very relevant to Casey's question. What were you guys thinking throughout the entire story, focusing on the reward of the lottery? I throughout was thinking that it must be something bad because the community was too peaceful, but I wasn't sure what this bad thing was going to be. What were your ideas?
ReplyDeleteClass:
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what you guys thought the point of the lottery is?
I don't really see how this is a good thing for the society. I mean they get a chance to let lose and stuff but they know these people, and they're their friends. I don't see how the society could function well after treating a person of their society so terribly.
ReplyDeleteI think the author wanted to keep her intentions hidden so that it makes that last part such a surprise. This surprise then makes the story something someone will talk about or remember.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melanie. From the title and throughout the whole story until the very last page, I thought that the Lottery was a good thing. The tone of the first paragraph made it seem like it was a good thing by using words like "fresh warmth of a full-summer day" "the flowers were blossoming" and "the grass was richly green". Even the anxiety of all of the villagers just made it seem like they were anxious to see who won versus anxious to see who would be killed.
ReplyDelete@David
ReplyDeleteI was wondering this too. It seem pointless. I don't think its for population control. I think it's just the social standard.
David:
ReplyDeleteDoes there have to be a point? Or do you mean a moral of the story?
@Aaron, I think it was kept positive because that was how the society acted about it. Like it was positive, when really it wasn't a positive thing.
ReplyDelete@Zoe
ReplyDeleteGood is a very relative term and the idea of good is set by the society. Its tradition for as long as they can remember which makes it "good"
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAaron:
ReplyDeleteSo how do you think this tradition was instilled?
I think that the author unfolded the negativity in the end to show how the villagers are trying to put a brave face on but when the family "wins" the lottery, they realize that a real person is going to get stoned and it is someone they know and respect. And then it goes from fun and games to someone getting hurt.
ReplyDeleteAaron-I think that this went along with the idea of gothicism. Two very opposite things within one. At the beginning they say, "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with fresh warmth of a full-summer day". This puts forth the very positive spin, however at the end when the violence comes you see the opposite and really bad part of it. Maybe the lottery was there in a way to balance the community, because everyone seemed to get along really well and everything was in great order, however they balanced this with the very negative occurance (and meaning) of the lottery at the end. Would you agree with me? What were your thoughts while reading it?
ReplyDelete@David, I agree with Aaron. It does seem really pointless, it's just one of those traditions the town has. They seem very superstitious about what could happen if anything is changed, which is why I think they keep doing it.
ReplyDelete@Silvana
ReplyDeleteI mean the actually lottery. Not the story.
I don't think the authors of the gothicism movement are against happiness. They are just trying to make readers think and challenge the system.
ReplyDeletehow do you guys think the first lottery came about?
ReplyDelete@nate:
ReplyDeleteI think the first lottery probably started for in the eyes of the people a good cause, but after it had occurred for so many years, people were afraid to change. As it says on the first page "but no one liked to upset eve as much tradition as was represented by the black box".
Traditionally, it is the role of the man to protect his wife and family. Why do you think that the author chose to take this role of protection and make it so that the man was the one that was supposed to draw in the lottery and cause someone in his family to be hurt?
ReplyDelete@Laura, I agree that the authors of the Gothicism movement aren't against happiness. But i don't think they were trying to make the readers think or challenge the system. I think they were trying to convey conflicting emotions in the text.
ReplyDeleteTaking off of the conversation in the center circle, did it appear that any of the men ever were stoned? Because all of the men were participating with the slips, do you think that whenever they drew the slip, the women was always the one to be stoned? What do you think the purpose of the lottery was besides the tradition aspect? They mentioned the fact that the population was larger now than it had been in the past and therefore the lottery occured more often, do you think then the reason for the lottery may have come down to the fact that they were trying to keep the population down? Was that the entire reason as for why they had the lottery?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura. We've seen all the changes throughout the different eras of literature. Each time there is a new kind of literature, they challenge the ideas of learning was before. An example is rationalism which was challenging the ideas of the church.
ReplyDeleteWhy is stoning someone a celebration in their town? It seems weird in culture even looking into the past.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that challenging the system is relevant to Gothisicism. I think that gothicism is centered mainly around darkness. Not necessarily sorrow but, shadowous and illuminous. Again I agree that it is not against happiness; however I don't think it is applicable to gothic writing.
ReplyDelete@Aaron
ReplyDeleteIt's for the same reason like why do we celebrate by trick or treating, or July 4th when we blow things up? It's cultural and it depends on the society.
I also think this story goes back to the idea of blind trust. If this is the only tradition that they know, how can they know if it is wrong?
ReplyDeleteAaron-Now that Brit just is relating it to religion, I almost wonder if it is a sacrifice. Do you think that it could possibly be that situation, and that they might be celebrating to a religion in an symbolized or sort of hidden way?
ReplyDelete@Aaron:
ReplyDeleteI think that it is a celebration because it was more of a "better you than me" type of mentality. If stoning someone that you know means that you will be able to live at least until the next lottery then why not?
@Kylie, I don't think it was always the women of the house, it seemed very at random. But to answer the second question of the purpose of the lottery, I feel like the only purpose was tradition. Because they were saying how other towns had given up The Lottery and that everything was still fine. So it really was tradition. And what if someone had spoken up and decided against The Lottery? Would they have been stoned as well, because they had spoken against the tradition? was it fear that made them continue it?
ReplyDelete@Aaron its like how people used to go to the beheadings during the French Revolution. They practically made it into a normal family outing or a picnic. It doesn't mean it's right but thats how they viewed it.
ReplyDeleteZoe-How do you think a tradition like this would come around though, it seems like such a strange thing to just begin doing...like who would start a tradition like that?
ReplyDeleteBased off Emily and Melanie, do you think there is a parallel to the Holocaust with this writing? Considering the year it was written (1948), it seems likely. Kind of this idea of accusing for no reason.
ReplyDelete@Kylie:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Zoe, I don't necessarily think that women were targeted in the lottery. It was very random and "fair" you could say. It seems like as long as someone was killed or sacrificed if religion was involved, then everything was okay, it didn't really matter whether they were male of female.
I think there could be the possibility that the Lottery may not be completely random. As the inner circle said, it is interesting that the single member that arrives late happens to be the person that gets stoned. Do you guys think there could be the possibility that the lottery may not be based on probability and luck?
ReplyDelete@Kylie, I agree it is a really weird and morbid tradition. However I couldn't even begin to guess how something like this came up, and in more than one town as well.
ReplyDeleteThe people in this story are just brainwashed to this tradition because it is all they know, so why would they go against tradition.
ReplyDelete@Zoe
ReplyDeleteWhy can't you fathom it?
@Aaron
ReplyDeleteI think that the story could easily be related to the Holocaust. Like what Kyler said, people in the story were used as scapegoats, just like the Jews during the Nazi reign from the Holocaust. They were seen as the people that they could get rid of and they would be fine, like there was no after-affect, basically.
@David, No I think it was all based on chance. Because it says "It has a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers has made the night before..." SO he had not know that she would show up late. Thus making it just chance.
ReplyDeleteAaron:
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point. If you think about it, this story could be attributed to the Holocaust. If the Lottery is in fact completely random, then one could make the argument that Mrs. Hutchinson could represent the Jewish population, or even anyone that had been stoned. From an outside view, it appeared as though the Jews were randomly selected to be killed. This is obviously similar to all of those that were picked from the lottery and executed.
@Nate
ReplyDeleteI agree, just like The Crucible was a response to McCarthyism which was occurring at that time, The Lottery could be a response to like Aaron said the Holocaust or some other historical event
Zoe:Because of the fact that it seems hard for us to come up with a reason why someone would start this tradition makes me think as though there must be more of a reason for it. There would probably be something of a religious or maybe governmental reason why this would occur.
ReplyDelete@Laura: i completely agree. The Aztecs, as connor said, had been sacrificing people for so long they didn't view it as immoral or wrong. The only difference is, the Aztecs usually sacrificed prisoners, not people who were part of the community.
ReplyDelete@Brandon, because it is such a morbid and terrible idea to stone someone who is basically innocent of any bad deeds to death.
ReplyDelete