Never forget your morals
“Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what’s right” Isaac Asimov. In today’s society we should all live by this quote, but since many of us do not, we are only contributing to the problem. In the case of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the ritual of stoning a human to death for sacrificial purposes, shows how our society is made up of followers and cowards whose general ignorance prevents many from standing up for what they know is right. As I strongly believe that today’s society is predominately made up of bystanders, who believe it is easier to pretend that the problem does not exist, then to take the effort to correct it.
In 1964 a real controversial case had erupted and is known as The “Kitty” Genovese Case. 28-year-old Catherine Genovese was murdered and raped on the streets of Queens, New York, and it was reported that a total of 38 witnesses had seen the murder taken place, but no one bothered to call the police. This case was soon studied by psychologist and founded the creation of the “Bystander Effect”. Psychologists believed that the reason the bystanders did not take action was “diffusion of responsibility,” and that the more bystanders in an emergency situation, the more these bystanders believe that “someone else will help, so I don’t need to.” This is evident in “The Lottery” as the majority of the population believes that the sacrifice is unjust, but is unwilling to stand up as individuals for what they know is wrong. As Mrs. Adams stands up for her opinion as an individual, she shortly gets shut down by Old Man Warner, and falls back into the Bystander Effect. “Some places have already quit lotteries,” Mrs. Adams said. “Nothing but trouble in that,” Old Man Warner said stoutly. “Pack of young fools.” This quote shows that being the outcast of everyone else around you causes pressure to cave in to the wrong.
In the present day we still see bystanders everywhere we look. Currently just looking on...