Today we read the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and discussed the concept of evil.
Explain in your opinion whether or not the society of the lottery was an evil society. Furthermore, discuss this concept of evil being born in you or thrust upon you. Pick an evil person real or fictional and discuss which of these is true for them and why. Finally, connect this idea of evil to the following quote:
"It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death."
Mary Renault
59 comments:
I dont think that the society of lottery is really evil. They have had that ritual since the people that founded the place. They havent known anything else so they dont know its wrong. I dont think you could be born evil. Maybe it could happen but i think you have evil thrust apon you if you end up being evil. Like Hitler, he was just alone adn heard people talking on the streets. He wasnt born evil. I think this quote meens that if they had a choice for one to be evil or die, you would rather be evil then die.
Katlyn Twigg 2nd Hour
In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, i don't believe what the town was doing was necessarly "evil". They were only following a tradition they had been doing for years. I think you can be born evil and it can be thrust upon you. Michael Myers is a famous evil movie character who i beleive was not born evil. In Michaels dreams a character he thinks is his mom comes to him and tells him to kill people, and he does what his mom says. In the quote "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death." by Mary Renault, it is saying it is bad to lose a friends to evil. But it's even worse when they die from it.
Whether the society is evil or not is hard to tell. The villagers thought what they were doing was right. Though, to me, it was evil. Killing somebody is evil whether its for a good cause or not. These people had evil thrust upon them. They didnt choose to kill people, it was a tradition/ritual from a long time ago that was passed down to them. Some people, unlike the villagers, are born evil. They have a mental capacity that brands them as evil.
A person that had evil thrust upon them is Harvey Dent from Batman. He was a good person and lawyer who had a good sense of justice. Then the joker killed his girlfriend and he lost that sense of justice and believed that everything happened by chance and he killed a lot of people.
To tell the truth i'm not entirely sure what this quote has to do with evil besides the fact that it says evil in it. To me it means that the person would rather have their friend become evil rather then have him die. I guess in a way it would make the person who didn't want them to die evil. I say this because they would rather have their friend kill others than just loose their friend. So there would be multiple deaths instead of just one.
James Richardson
3rd hour
I dont think the society was evil. The lottery has been part of the society ever since the society began. When evil is thrusted upon you, it means an experience that has influenced your behavior and who you are as a person. I dont really understand how evil can be born into someone. I feel someone who is evil has gone through negative experiences. A perfect example of someone who had evil thrusted upon them was Adolf Hitler. He was never a bad person growing up, he pretty much was like everyone else untill he heard bad things about jews, and decided to become part of it. He wanted to be someone who others could relate too, and he used the jews for this. The reason people looked up to hitler was because they felt hitler understood them. The quote connects to the idea of evil by syaing that, once you loose a friend to evil, they pretty much are dead to you. You dont want to remember your friend as an evil person because thats not who they really are.
deets
In the story "the lottery" i dont believe that their society was evil. They were just following a tradition they've been doing for many years. So they didnt think they were doing anything wrong. I dont think you can be bron evil. I think evil thrusts upon you. Charles Manson wasnt necesarily born evil. He grew up into a rough life. He moved to several differnt foster homes, and basically never really has a family. So he probly wanted to rebell against society and create a "cult" to make him feel wanted and needed. The qoute connects to evil, becuase losing someone to evil is hard, but losing them to death because of evil is even harder.
I do not feel like the societies lottery was evil. I think it was a tradition or ritual that was passed on for many years. Just like in how in ancient cultures they sacrificed bodies for there religion and what they believed in. I think for the most part evil is thrust upon you however i also think you can be born evil. I think becoming evil has a lot to do with events and people who are around you at a young age or a troubling time of your life. Michael Myers is an example of someone who was thrust into evil. Growing up as a child Michael had no father figure and was always getting yelled at by his mothers boyfriend and his older sister. This made him very upset and he had many outrages like for-instance killing animals and eventually human beings with no emotion what so ever. I think quote is saying it sucks to see a friend become evil. I think it is kinda saying you would rather see a friend die happy then become evil and make others suffer.
Taylor Wattles
while reading the short story "the Lottery" i didnt get an evil vibe because it seems like the people in the book had no problem throwing the rocks. What makes this not evil is that since they were born they were taught to do stuff that may not look good, but it was was a ritual to rock somebody to death. In this world some people believe that people are born evil but i believe that nobody has or will be born evil because people have a different perspective on things so for example, someone might believe that helping somebody else other that themselves, but personally i am only looking out for one person and that is myself. i thought of Mr.Kays example today and i think that if i were in his position then i wouldnt jump infront of the bullet. does that really make me evil when im protecting myself??? the quote connects to evil because it shows that you would rather see a friend turn evil than be dead
Will Michaels 2nd hour
I do not believe the society to be evil as much as I just think they were brainwashed and ignorant. The town in "The Lottery" started this ritual and never stopped, believing it was beneficial for their crops to grow. They grew up with it thinking it wasn't only the right thing to do but just another part of life. It takes a free-thinker to step out and think of a situation as it really is. The deed that the town did was no other then evil. I believe in that sense it is, but in actuality the town had no idea what they were doing was wrong.
No one is born evil. People are influenced by everything around them and it does take a certain kind of person to interpret things a specific way that may make them evil. You could take two twins with identical brain chemistry and have them living different styles of life. You can not expect the two twins to act the same when they are growing up around completely different people and places. Hitler was not born evil. He was influenced by society to do what he thought was right. If Hitler were to be somehow cloned and then grew up in today's times I do not think he would be an evil person. I think it depends on circumstance, childhood, and influence.
The quote is saying that one would rather loose a friend to evil then to loose them completely. People believe that there is good in all and that people can change. Sometimes I think it is too late for some people to change. This quote makes you think about who the real evil person would be: the person creating the evil, or the person letting the other create evil? I personally think it is a little of both.
Megan Kastelen
2nd hour
I think the Lottery society is evil. I don't care if they follow a ritual or not, it's wrong. I think evil is born with you. It might take time to show but is born with you. Joseph Stalin is a great example. He killed millions of his own people from the Soviet Union. On top of countless mass murders he would steal vitally needed food from people out of his own country as well. He was born evil and died evil. I think this quote means it's harder to see a friend get taken by evil then it would to see him die. I think it means when a person becomes evil it's just like them being dead because there not the same.
I think that what the society was doing is evil, however I think that the people themselves were not. I beleive that it was a ritual and that they were raised to believe thats what they do. I dont nescessarely believe that you can be born evil, but I do believe that things that happen during your childhood and as you grow older can make you evil. Like the two students that commited the columbine massacre, they werent born evil, things that happened to them, like being ridiculed all the time in school by their peers made them evil. I think that the quote is asking a question, Would you rather be evil or die? and my answer is id rather die than be evil.
Explain in your opinion whether or not the society of the lottery was an evil society. Furthermore, discuss this concept of evil being born in you or thrust upon you. Pick an evil person real or fictional and discuss which of these is true for them and why. Finally, connect this idea of evil to the following quote:
"It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death."
Mary Renault
I believe that the society in the lottery was evil. Any group of people who sacrificed killing one person once a year is. However, i think one thing that really made them evil was the way that they killed her. Murdering someone is in no way acceptable, but dont torture them by throwing rocks on them and eventually killing them, make it peaceful as possible. I think that these people were not born evil, bnut it was thrust upon them in the way of their customs and practices. They hadno choice but to do a lottery every year. I will choose Jeffery Domer as my evil being. I do not think he was born evil. I think that somehow he brainwashed himself into being it. I think man y events happened in his life that led him to be evil. Lastly, the quote by, Mary Renault i find is somewhat twisted. I disagree and would rather lose someone to evil then death. But for those people who are evil, they think that they should try to bring others in to it, and a deatyh from their evilness isnt the same as a death from god.
In the short story “The Lottery”, written by Shirley Jackson, the society was thought of as evil. I think the society wasn’t evil, I think that the person who came up with the tradition was evil. The community was used to this tradition, so they found it as a normal ritual. Someone who is evil at the age of forty may have not been born evil, but may have had something tragic happen to them which resulted in evil. Someone like, Hitler, was not known as someone evil until he started taking over and becoming one of the most evil man of that time. So, some people, like Hitler, could have been a good person before they were brought to evil. "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death”. I’m sure that with a friend turning into evil wouldn’t be your first choice for them, but if that person were to die, it would me a lot worse. The people who were killed in the Lottery were trusted into evil but didn’t want to die.
Lauren Beattie
3rd Hour
I think that the original society when they came up with the lottery was evil. Being born evil means you've had evil thoughts since you were born. And having evil thrust upon you means that you were influenced throughout your lifetime with negative things. I pick the Marvel comics character Magneto to talk about. When he was born he had the power of magnetism and his entire life he was shunned and hated for his ability, and because of the actions of others he became evil. He had evil forced apon him in the way of other people hating him and hurting him. Usually when one is evil they tend to be killed or commit suicide.
The society of the lottery was not evil in my eyes. It is just a ritual that goes on in that city. I think that some people they were born evil, and some evil just thrust upon them. Hitler was not an evil person, until he was denied entrence into the army. Then he started his own "hate group." Hitler caused a lot of deaths for evil reasons. Killing people was his "final solution" to put an end to the Jewish race.
Katlin Gotshaw
3rd Hour
In my opinion, the society of the lottery was an evil society. Personally, regardless of whether or not someone knows what they are doing is evil, if it's evil, it's evil. Even though it's a tradition that they follow, I still find it to be evil. My idea of evil is that the people can't be punished for being evil unless they know it is evil though. If they were raised evil, you can't take away the fact that they are evil, but you also can't punish them for it because they know nothing better.
I feel like some people are born evil and others have evil thrust upon them. The student who did the Columbine shootings, for example, was not an evil person when he came into this world. It was only after being bullied for so long that he decided to shoot a bunch of people in his school. As for the quote, I believe it is saying that losing a friend to evil is worse than losing a friend because of death. If your friend turned evil, you wouldn't really be much of friends anymore. I would rather lose my friend to death than to have them turn evil and see all the other people they hurt because of it.
2nd hr
Well i do not think that it was an evil society. They were only following a ritual. I was thinking it was a little weird but they were only doing what there ancesters did. These poeple didnt have evil thrust opon then but they just do an evil thing doesnt make them evil. I choose Lord Voldemort. As a kid he was outcasted. He fel weird and all the kids made fun of him. He wasnt born evil just had a bad child hood. He knew he was different and the kids knew he was too. He just got back at all of them beacuse they were mean to him. He did go a lot overboard more than he should have. Well i think this quote is sayng that you would rather see ur friend die than see him turn evil.
ZAck Ruffun
After reading "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, I feel that the society wasn't evil. I think that the people who stared the ritual were evil but not the people who just follow it. Also, I beleive that evil is thrust upon a person compared to a person being born evil. I think that if something bad were to happen to someone, they might get upset or angry and want to do something evil. I don't think that someone could just be born evil, something must have happened to them which made them evil. A fictional person who is considered evil would be Jason. Jason was not born evil, he drowned and his mother told him to kill people because people did not safe him. Jason was just listening to his mother, evil was thrusted upon him. The quote, "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death," connects to the idea of evil because, there is good and evil in everybody. It is the degree of each in a person that defines them the most. I consider myself a good person and all my friends to be good people. If one of my friends were to turn evil due to the influence of another person it would be like me losing my good friend and would effect how i would remember that person after they are gone. Evil would leave a bitter memory of my once good friend.
Becca Need
3rd Hour
I don't think " The Lottery" was evil. Evil doent have just one meaning depending on what you think evil can be man things. Some people could think what there doing is right while others will think its evil. I think people can both be born into evil or have it thrust upon them. Jeffery dohmer I think was born evil, with talk about him being a serial kiler and cannibal.
Jake Fairbanks 2nd hour
the society in the story "the lottery" is an example of evil thrust upon someone. it is an example of this because the lottery was passed down from other gen. and they didn't know whats right and wrong about it. you cant really be born evil your too young to know whats right and evil. you dont understand anything! you can be forced or thrust into evil though. the person i choose is voldermort. he is an example of this because when he was younger he was teased and not loved by his parents and sent to a foster home where the children there also made fun of him. this turned him evil because he was annoyed with the other children and found a way to toucher them. and from that he saw that ppl obeyed him and stopped making fun of him and stared to do worse. he didn't show how evil he was until he turned 18 but still he ended up being evil.
nicole kailing 2nd hr
In the short story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, i dont believe that what the townspeople were doing could be categorized as evil. Their only thing they did was follow a tradition that they had been continuing from generation to generation. I think that you can't be born evil. I think that evil has to be thrust upon them. Look at Adolf Hitler he was born a happy boy and then later in life evil was thrust upon him. I think that what this quote means is that they have the choice of being evil, or dying. By the looks of it i would say that most of the people that had to make this decision would choose t be evil rather then risking death.
Alec Shoemaker 3rd hour
I think that the society of the lottery is evil, no one should be able to play “god” and take someone’s life for any reason. Even though it was a part of their society and that’s all they knew, in my eyes its wrong. I think there are two types of evil people, those who are born evil and those who spontaneously commit evil acts. Those who are born evil tend to have thoughts from a very young age, like wanting to hurt people and things. Those who commit acts of evil spontaneously could live a normal life but be thrown into a situation blinded and commit an evil act of selfishness. An example of evilness is the shooters of columbine. I believe they were born evil; yes it is true they were made fun of because they were outcasts, but that only added to a life time of twisted thoughts. I think the quote "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death." by
Mary Renault means that it is harder to accept losing a loved one to evil because it’s hard to understand and figure out the reasoning.
dont think that the society in the lottery was evil. It was just what they were raised on, it was acceptable where they lived. It's like prejudice people, the majority of them are prejudice because of their upbringing. like whether or not being prejudice was acceptable in your home. because you were raised by it, it still doesn't make it right but in the mind of the person it is right. An example is Hitler like you were saying today in class that hitler wasn't born into evil or abusive neglecting parents it was the events that happened later in life that turned him. he was looking for someone to blame it still definitely does not make it right actually i think it makes it even more wrong. I think the quote means that being evil is something much worse than death. Evil can cause others to kill or do bad things.
I don't believe that the society was necesarily evil, but what they did was evil. They were just doing what was considered a normal tradtion. The thing that I think is evil is how if that person was to be the one choosen to die, then they think that the lottery is unjustice and unfair. But when their life is going to be ok, then they sigh a relief and then kill the victim. I don't think you can be born evil, it is the surounding that you grow up in to mess up your head. For example, Hitler was'nt evil untill his life was in the gutter. If he blamed his problems on someone else, it made him feel less of a screw-up. In the quote by Mary Renault, I think that it means that you would rather see someone die a good person, and be known as a good person, than to live and become the bad guy.
In my opinion the society of the lottery was evil. The people in the community chose to kill one of their own just because it was something that was always done. Just because it was a ritual that had been followed for many years doesn't mean it was right. People have choices amd they could have stopped the killing. Seung-Hui Cho massacred 32 people at Virginia Tech. Seumg-Hui was not born evil; he suffered from a mental illness that he did not have control over. I think genetics has a lot to do with how people turn out. People do things when they are not in their right state of mind. Circumstances can make you evil; you're not necessarily born with it. In my opinion this quote means that you would rather have your friend be evil than your friend die.
The short story "The Lottery" I don't believe that it was "evil". I believe what they were doing was very wrong. They don't have any right to kill a random person by a lottery, it's not right or fair. The reason for the lottery was because it was something the town has been doing for years, even possibly there ancestors could have done the lottery. Since the people of the town grew up with it, it was normal for them to have that every year on June 27th. I don't believe that you are born with evil. Evil is not something generic or in your brain, it's an action, you become evil by doing the things you do. I you kill people, try to find ways to hurt people, for the fun of it, then you would be considered evil. For example, the student who did the Columbine shootings, I believe that he wasn't born evil. He became that way after many years of being picked on, made fun, and bullied. Yes, he committed a very wrong crime, but he was tired of being picked on, but when he stood up for himself, he went way to far. This is why students shouldn't bully, because they will never really know how much it effects them, until they show or tell you, maybe not in the right way. This quote means that you can either lose a friend to death, or lose a friend because they turned evil. In my opinion, I would rather lose a friend to death, rather than seeing many other people become hurt by my friend who turned evil.
Alanna Nagi
2nd hour
I belive that this was an evil society and the people in it were evil. Even if it is a tradition, it is still evil. If you are born evil it measn that you were born with the personality to do bade in this world. If you were born good and had evil thrust upon you, then it is the life experiences that made you that way. For example, if you were made fun of, you might turn to the good side. The student at Virginia Tech, for example was porbably not born evil. However, he got made fun of and was forced to turn evil. So, he took out all of his revenge on the people he killed. This quote is basicall saying that it is better for someone to die naturally than to die or even turn evil due to evil casues. Mar Renault was saying she would rather her friend die thatn be turned evil.
I believe that the society was not an evil society. All people are brought up in different ways. While one society may be brought up saying that killing is bad, another may say it is perfectly fine. I don't believe in being born evil. A lot of our thoughts, feelings, and ultimately actions, are counterparts of what is going on around us. While I don't believe in born evil, I understand the idea that the way we act is often directly related to our genome. Vladimir Lenin would be considered an evil person in history. He was not born evil, but over the years, he had been learning and perceiving the world in his way. He was cruel to people; He murdered many people; He brainwashed people. This quote by Mary Renault, "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death." seems very true. When somebody dies, they leave behind a legacy. An evil person leaves behind a legacy that shows people that this person was indeed, a very harsh person. A person can do several bad things in their life, but this does not mean that they were an evil person. Perspective counts here.
I feel that the lottery society is not evil. I feel that way, even though it is a barbaric belief that killing a person every year with help the crops grow, because it is a tradition that has been presurved over the years and that doesn't make the people evil. For example, many people feel that hunting is a cruel sport and should be banned, I would disagree because I have been doing it my whole life and it is a tradition in my family. Many people that think it is cruel have never been hunting and they have no idea about the benifits from it. I belief that you are born evil and it is not made. For example Jack the Ripper was born evil, not only did he murder numerous women, after her cut their throat he removed their internal orgams. People do not become a killer like that they are born with some mental defect that makes them that way. I think the quote is trying to say that it is more difficult to loose a friend that has been possibly murdered than a friend that died from natural cause. It is easier when the friend dies from natural cause rather than by an evil person because they die slower and that gives mthe friend time to deal with the though that their friend is dying rather than Bam, ther dead.
I think the society in the lottery was an evil society but I don’t think they were evil people. The whole lottery stoning tradition was an evil and wrong thing but they were just following tradition. I don’t think they really wanted to kill someone every year but they knew they had to according to the tradition which was all they’d known. I think that evil is something that is thrust upon you and not something that’s in you when you’re born. There’s always the really rare case like the guy who killed people and chopped them up but I think that’s more of a mental illness. An example of someone who had evil thrust upon them is any of the Columbine kids. They went through so many bad times of people making fun of them that they felt they had to fight back. I think the quote means that it’s a bad thing to lose a friend to evil and its pretty much the same thing as being dead. Evil can really change people until they’re someone you don’t know anymore.
Personally i did not find any evil upon the lottery society in the story "The Lottery". i did not see this because it is a tradition in which is followed but nothing new or just brought up. It is different then for example the nazi's because here they did not just become evil and choose to try something new or a belief, where the Nazi's were in desperate help to find how they could control power and take over the world. So in this situation they took a stab at domination and blamed all jewish, handicap, homosexual, and other religion beliefs for their past economic mistakes.
I find that many people do judge others based on present occasions. This is why i feel it is hard to tell whether a person is born with evil or it is just thrust upon them. For example, Charles Manson from the 70's who chose to kill a movie star and the rest of the family. Now i question wether that man was born with the evil-ness in him or he was just upset and just snaped causing him to kill others.
I feel the quote by Mary Renault, was writen to tell that it is your self or friends must stay evil free. Such as drugs, drugs can be looked at as evil. This is because drugs have been found to kill people. Aside from this sad and terrible way of death, there is the happy and RIP way of death. When someone is killed by a disease or age, this is not that persons fault so it must be put aside and be shown respect for and feelings. On the other hand, if drugs are to kill someone, yes you would be very sad for loosing that person, but would also be disappointed in that person for there decision.
conman
I think the society of the lottery was evil. They killed a poor woman who didnt do anything wrong. I really dont think its fair that they did that to her. For my person I think im gonnna do jeffery dahmer. He killed all kinda of people in the world. I dont really think he had good reasons to either. I would rather lose a friend to evil than have them die. Its worse knowing that someone actually died and harder on you even if you arnt friends anymore.
I do not beleive the society was necesariyl evil. What they were doing, they had been doing since they were born. This does not make it right, but it doesnt make it evil. They may lack some moral values, but they do it, because they beleive they have to. Like I said, it doesnt make it right, but it doesnt make it evil either. I am of the personal beleif, that no one is born evil. Some people are born with disabilities that make it easier to become evil, but no one is born completely evil. People have evil thrust upon them. For example, the man who killed all of those peopl at virginia tech. He wasnt born evil. He just snapped. To much pressure, and probably a bad upbrining. In my opinion, it all has to do with how you were raised. To lose a friend is hard. It is extremely hard. When I lost Brandon, it tore me apart. But to have lost him because he did something horrible and was killed would have been so much worse. Not knowing why he would do sucha thing. What caused him to do it, would have been much worse than him just dying.
I don't think the society of lottery is evil. They were born into the tradition, it is all they know. People can be born evil, in my opinion. Evil can also be thrust upon someone. Evil can be thrust upon someone if they witness an act of cruelty. What they witness can warp their mind and make them demented. In the case of Jeffrey Domer he was thrusted into evil at a young age. The seed was planted in him while he was young, when his parents divorced, his parents ignored the signs and let him develop into what he became, a demented killer. in i I think the quote means that it's harder to lose a friend to evil than lose him to death because when they become evil you have to watch them slowly destroy themselves both physically and mentally. As opposed to losing them to death were it is instant and you have time to cope with it and recover. Watching someone destroy their life of a long period can take it's toll on a lot of people.
In the story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson was the tale of a town who once a year stoned one member to death to bring good crops for the year to come. In my opinion this town was not evil. Not only because it was tradition but for another reason. When we read about things that occurred in another time period we can not judge what took place with todays standards. Today, if someone was stoned to death everyone who participated would be tried and put in proson. However, back then many villages participated in this ritual. It was an accepted event in society. So, if this was something that happened today, i would say it was evil, but because it took place in another time with different moral standards and practices, i cant say it was evil.
When it comes to nature versus nurture i could easily take both sides of the fence. I believe that some people can be born with a pre-disposition to being "evil" and then their surroundings cause that behavior to occur. However, i dont think the nature can take place without the nurture. For example, Saddam Hussein may have had a pre-disposition to acts of evil, but he also had a hard life growing up. First of all, his father dissapeared 6 months after he was born. Also, his brother died of cancer when he was 3 and saddam was sent to live with family. Then his mom got re-married and he inhereted 3 step brothers. So, possibly something during his rough childhood made him evil. The quote "It is bitter to loose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death," by Mary Renault, fits in perfectly with Saddam. Its saying that someone would rather see their friend die than become what they see as evil.In Saddams case his friends did see him turn evil...and then die. But they had to see him go bad first.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/Hussein-Saddam.html
Information on Saddam Hussein.
3rd
I think that the actions of the people in the lottery were evil, but the people themselves were not. If they had known what they were doing was wrong, they would have been evil, but they did not. The original people who made the tradition of the stoning is evil, but the people did not know better. They were raised thinking that it was right and normal to stone someone once a year. With this said, I think that evil is thrust upon you. I don't think that anyone is born evil. People are exposed to evil things, and this is what leads them to being evil. I also think that personal experiences may turn someone evil, such as not being accepted by someone, or being teased. The evil person I chose is a woman who was a part of the Manson family. She grew up in a home with both a mother and father, she was a wonderful student, and homecoming queen. But at 19 years old, she went to jail for life for the assisted murder of 6 people. She wasn't an evil person until she was influenced by Charles Manson. This is connected to the quote because it is always sad to lose someone to evil. A majority of that person has gone away, and losing a friend to evil is just as said as losing them to death.
I don't think the lottery was an evil society. They were simply following a tradition that had been passed on for some time. The people who first started the tradition were the evil ones. I don’t really see how evil can be born into you. For someone to be evil, they choose to have no respect for themselves or others. Charles Manson is a great example of evil being thrust upon someone. He believed that he was the Son of God. He brainwashed himself and people believed in him and followed him, which gave him more power. In sociology class we watched a documentary on the Manson family and it said that every since he was young he had been trouble. At the age of 14 he had already had an impressive criminal record with things like mail theft, grand theft auto, prostitution of women, and many other charges. To me this quote means that evil comes sooner than death. All the people that serial killers murder had more of their lives to live before it was taken
from them by evil.
Cody Kabisa
2nd hour
In my opinion i dont think the lottery society was evil, just stupid. In fact looking back in history, i dont get a lot of things they did. Did they not realize it was all about luck with picking a piece of paper? I do think that evil can be born into you though. For instance, i dont think the terrorists who acted on 9/11 had a chance to be normal from birth. Their culture is hate and they were taught to kill. I think the quote by mary renault is simply saying its awful to have an evil friend, but its even worse when one dies from it. I dont think its fair to the person who is born into evil. Everyone should have the choice to be whoever they want.
Blanz
6th
I dont necessarily consider the society of the lottery to be evil. I beleive they were just trying to keep to religion. I think they thought it helped keep order and organization, because when one of the people of the society mentioned the other towns dropping the religion, the leader of the lottery said that they would return to being cave men. I think the concept of evil being born in you, as just being mean in general. Like being mean to everyone, doing inhumane things like killing animals for fun, or hurting other people to a great extent. The concept of evil being thrust apon you could be a child being raised in a family of cruel people, that make them beleive the wrong things. For example, a family not disciplining their child, their child would'nt know right or wrong. This quotes connectes to evil because when the quote says, "it is bitter to lose a friend to evil," its saying that the friend could have saved him. He could have told him right from wrong.
Taylor Dieck
3rd hr.
In my opinion I do not think evil was a part of the lottery. I believe this just because it was how they grew up, it was a tradition. This was how they grew up and it did not seem wrong to them. Yes, when it started I believe it was an evil act, but because they are just following tradition I do not believe it was evil. However, I do not really think it was right, but the intentions itself were not the base of evil. Evil being born into you basically means from the start you automatically have evil thoughts. If you have evil thrust upon you, something tends to push you to the edge where you feel evil is necessary. For an example of evil I would pick Hitler. He was an example of having evil thrusted upon him. He did not grow up thinking he would be killing millions of innocent people. He felt like he needed to express his evil feelings because of events that had happened. I think this quote means evil is worse then death. Death is something that everyone has to give into, but evil is something that you give into because you want to. Everyone has the choice to not be evil. In conclusion it would be more terrible to watch someone become evil, then watch someoe lose all there values to evil.
I don't believe that the society in Shirly Jackon's "The Lottery" was evil. It explained in the story that this "lottery" happened every year on the same date. Everyone knew when it would happen and no one seemed scared about it. It was a custom that had been practiced in their town for a long time and so it became custom.
I believe that evil people are evil for a reason; whether they were born evil or something influenced them to become evil. Elphaba, the "Wicked Witch of the West" from the musical Wicked is an example of a person where evil was thrust upon her. Elphaba was different; she had green skin. All her life people mad fun of her and hurt her feelings. Over time this anger grew and grew and after she was framed for a crime she didn't commit(only because she was "evil" looking) she snapped. She didn't exactly turn evil but many of her actions were questionable. For example, she wanted to free some winged monkeys from a cell in Oz and in order to do that she killed some guards and broke in. The Ozians thought of her as evil because they didn't understand her side of the story. This brings up another point I wanted to make. Although we may think people are doing evil things or appear evil, their intentions may not always be what we think.
"It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death."
Mary Renault
This quote is telling us basically that it is better to lose a friend death than to evil. It is saying that being evil is worse than death.
Audrey
I don't believe that the society was evil because they grew up with it and were taught that it was okay. However, it is extremely wrong and scary. I think that evil can be brought on only by being thrust upon you. I don't believe that someone can be born evil. I think we all have evil inside us but it's being held back. However, as hardship come the wall blocking the evil eventually wears down in some people. I do believe that evil can be brought about easier in some. Just like Hitler, he wasnt born evil, but he got to a point where he let the evil out. I think that this quote means that they became evil, not born with it. I think it means that when they die you have the great memories, however, when they become evil that's all you remember about them. They are remembered in a bad way.
Kristen Pauly
2nd hr.
John Kent
9-23-09
I believe the society in the story is not evil. The tradition of the lottery was evil. The people were following their custom. They did not see it as evil because they did it that way for so many years. In this case, the evil was thrust upon them by way of tradition. It is not like they do it every day or if you have an argument with someone you resolve it by stoning that person. That being said, I do believe that some people are born evil. It is some sort of genetic defect or mental illness. We discussed in class that there are cases where people have no conscience. There is no sensor that makes the difference between right and wrong. An evil person is Chancellor Palpatine, aka the sith lord, from Star Wars was evil. He wanted to rule the republic and become emperor of all. He manipulated things to make it appear that it was thrust upon him but it was all part of his elaborate plan. I think that it is gut wrenching to see a friend, turn to evil: to watch your friend change for the worse. It would be better if they died and you could remember them the way they were.
the society in "the lottery" was not evil because they followed set rules and traditions, now it may seem evil to us because their culture is so different. Now in this situation evil was thrust upon them because of past years, i am pretty sure that people in the story wernt born with the thoughts of stoning somebody to death. Now a truly evil person is Jeffery Dahmer, he was truly evil because he would pretend that his arm was broken, trick nice people into helping him, and then kill these good citizens that help people. The quote connects to evil in a way that, your friend becomes evil and you don't want to be friends with him, and you guys are not friends any more. But if he just dies its easier to cope with because people die every day.
In my opinion, I believe the lottery was an evil society. In this story evil seemed to be born in them because their ancestors had been doing it, so they didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Ed Gean on the other hand chose to be evil. He made the decision to kill innocent people.
To me the quote is saying that it's worse to loose a friend to evil, than to loose a friend to natural causes. I agree with this quote because at least if your friend died, they were still true to themself.
I am not sure if i think the what they did was wrong because everyone is brought up in different cultures. In my life i would never think of doing what they did but thats only because of the way i was brought up. If you go around and ask 200 different people if they thought is was evil some might say it was and then there are some that say it wasnt evil because of their culture. I do think that people can be born evil, because some people are born with that part of the part of the brain (that gets amused by bad things happeing) working really i guess and some people arent. Like the guy from Texas Chain Saw Massicure, he was doing bad things since he was a cild. I think he was born evil bacause he was doing bad things since he was a child. He didnt really have a childhood to influence his actions. I think that the qoute relates to this concept of evil because its better to die being a good person and having good thoughts then to be an evil person with no feelings at all.
Personaly, i do think that the society in the short story, "the Lottery", by Sirley Jackson, is in many ways evil, even though they don't think they are. Even though the lottery had become a ritual that seemed like ordinary to these people, dosn't make it any better. The people of the town knew that they were killing an innocent person, and they simply went about doing it as if they didnt even care. To me, not caring that you are participating in murder is evil. This idea strongly related to the quote, "It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death." Mary Renault, because the quote is saying that to loose somebody close to you because they have been clouded by evil, is far worse that having them die. The quote means that while an evil one lives, they can spread evil and hate, and they can harm other people, which is far worse then having they die. Both the short story and this quote describe how evil can spread and effect people, causing them to leave behind their morals
In my opinion the scoiety was not evil. They were doing what many others before them have been doing, so in their minds they think it's the right thing to do. I don't think anybody can be born evil. It is more likely to have evil thrust upon you from an early age, and then it just growns on you. For example, lets say there is someone who wants to have something more than anything in the whole world, but he gets turned down timeand time again, so eventually he justs finally takes the blame out on someone or some people who are widely blamed for a lot of things. I'm talking about Hitler and how he took out his anger on the jews because he did not get what he wanted.
"It is bitter to lose a friend to evil, before one loses him to death."
Mary Renault
I believe this qoute is saying that it would be extremely difficut to lose a friend to evil, but it would be even more difficult if he died from it.
Trevor Stratton 3rd
I don't think that the society in the Lottery was actually evil, what they did wasn't good but they didn't know not to do that cause that's what everyone does around them. People in this town have been doing it for many years and its all they have known. I personally don't think you are born evil. I think you can become evil as you grow up but i don't think people are evil right from the start. When your born your a clean slate, depending on how you are raised can depend on if you can be evil or not. An evil person is Hitler. Like you said in class he wasn't born evil. He became evil by hearing other peoples thoughts and believing them. Another example could be terrorists. They aren't born terrorists, its what people around them say that manipulates their minds into thinking certain things. The quote by Renault is saying that its terrible to lose a friend you evil but its worse to loose them because of death. I don't know which one I would rather loose a friend to evil or death. Because if a friend goes evil like Hitler did, you wouldn't really want them as a friend anyone because of all the bad things he did. But if you loose them to death they are gone forever, but then they would at least die a good person and not be known for doing bad things.
Hannah Aittama
2nd hour
In the story, "The Lottery", I dont believe the poeple in the town were necessarily evil, but what was evil was the tradition being passed on. The story based killing someone soley on a black dot on a slip of paper. So, the towns people themselves were not evil, but the tradition they continued is. In addition, the people that started the tradition in the first place, probably were evil people.
I dont believe anyone is born evil. Being evil is influenced by the environment around you. For example, Hitler was not born evil. He grew up in a 'normal' environment. Yet, was influenced by society, rumors and his own personal set backs that made him hate Jews. He needed someone to blame for his failures, and instead of owning up to his faults, he blamed them on an extremly large number of people.
I really dont understnad what the quote is saying, but my best interpretation, is that it sucks to lose someone for being 'evil', but its much worse to lose them by death. If you lose someone to evil, they are still there, but to death, you obviously lose them completly.
Sam Tedder
2nd hour
I dont really consider the Society of the Lottery is evil. There just following a tradition that had been done for many years. An experience that you have gone threw that was mabye bad, has some of an influence on how you are as a person. Hitler wasn't born into evil. The experiences he had throughout his life made him "evil". I think the quote means that being evil is nothing compared to death, its so much wose. Evil can cause people to do bad things and be ok with what they just did.
I do not think the society of "The Lottery" is neccesarily eveil. I believe they grew up believing and practing certain rituals. Their actions were evil, but just like you cant have a bad child, just a child who does bad things, these people were practicing evil ways. Just like, of course, Hitler. He was a peacful person but being put in certain situations and having to hold his own changed his train of thinking. I actually dont quite understand the quote. I think maybe it means losing a friend to evil ways is far worse than osing him to death in itself.
I don't believe that the society of the lottery was an evil society because what they did was based on tradition. Plus it was a great way of population control. You can be born into Evil or it can be thrusted upon you as well. I think that when you are born into evil you are just screwed up in the head from day one, and you start showing signs as soon as you start walking and begin saying words. When evil is thrusted upon you, you are basicly forced to become evil to survive in the environemnt you live in, just as the survival of the fitest. Someone that i think that evil was thrusted upon woul;d be Sadium Hussane. I don't think that he was born evil he was just forced to become evil because of the society that he lived in. If you think of it in a prespective the situatiions he had to entail as a child then if you were in his shoes then you would've propbaly done the same to become top dog. i Believe that this quote is stating that you would rather see a friend betray you then lose thier life. It can also mean that it sucks and it makes you feel bad about letting your friend go with the wrong path, but it is better than losing someone that you used to be close with.
John McLean
3rd hour
In my opinion, no, the society of the lottery was not an evil society. They were only doing what they had known since they were born. The tradition of this lottery was normal to them and they thought it brought good luck. A person being evil is something that they can be born with, or can be put upon them so much that they become evil as they know it. For example, Michael Meyers, the killer from the movie Halloween, was just born evil. Ever since a kid he started killing family members and other kids on Halloween night. Finally, I believe this quote connects to that idea just because it is saying it sucks more when a person you know becomes evil over time, rather than seeing them die over time.
Post a Comment