The Lottery

"The Lottery" concerns itself with the concept that it can be acceptable to require the individual to sacrifice for the greater good. I'm not really sure on what the "greater good"is that they are talking about here. Stoning someone no matter what the reason seems unethical in my eyes. Maybe it was due to some over population the village/town was having, or maybe it was a type of punishment like hanging someone or the death penalty. The thing that really made me uncomfortable about this story was the fact that everyone, including the children were so accepting of this lottery. In the beginning of the story the children were gathering stones and playing around laughing like it as just another day outside. But later in the story you come to find that the kids were gathering the stones that could potentially kill themselves, their families or their friends. It's a bit unsettling. I almost had a sense of hurt for the people who suggested that they shouldn't do the Lottery anymore but just got shut right down. Everyone seemed accepting of the Lottery until it's them being chosen. Tessie is a perfect example of this. She showed up late with her apron still on unworried about being picked. But once her husband was the one chosen she cried out that it "wasn't fair", and "he didn't have enough time". Ironically, Tessie was the one that was chosen to be stoned in end.