Desensitization of Murder in The Lottery Essay - 1078 Words

On the Desensitization of Murder in The Lottery When someone is a part of or witnesses any one thing enough times, that person will become desensitized to it, whether it is gradually accepting abortion, homosexuality or anything else for that matter. People can even become accustomed to violent murder if it is ingrained into their lives enough. Take the Einsatzgruppen (Nazi Officers that were partly responsible for the death of millions) The Lithuanians showed them how to murder women and children, and they became accustomed to it (Cesarani 165). Shirley Jackson most certainly takes this desensitization into account when she writes The Lottery. The characters in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery are so accustomed to their tradition of†¦show more content†¦?The people had done it so many times that they only half-listened to the directions The villager?s passiveness towards the lottery shows, not only that they don?t want to be there, but that the lottery is just another task they need to mark off of their to-do lists. In actua lity, the lottery is a tuned-way of choosing someone to die, but the villagers are so desensitized to it, that they fancy the lottery as nothing more than an errand that they must complete. Secondly, the villagers small-talk, giggle and the children play throughout the story, as if one of their brothers or sisters are not about to be brutally killed. During the entire lottery proceedings, the villagers laugh and the children play despite the seriousness of their situation. The children playing with their murder weapons before the lottery begins really show how little the people care about the lottery anymore: ?Most have become completely desensitized to the murderous rituals. In paragraph two, the children are so desensitized that they are actually enjoying themselves while they are collecting rocks as a sadistic prize for the lottery?s winner. Although they are very young they remember some aspects of the ritual. Bobby Martin stuffs his pockets full of stones as if it were money and not a murder weapon. Three of the villager?s children eventually made a great pile of stones in one corner of the square and guarded it against raids of the other boys. The children know that they areShow MoreRelatedThe Lottery vs the Destructors Essay examples1046 Words   |  5 PagesThesis In Shirley Jackson’s, â€Å"The Lottery†, and Graham Greene’s â€Å"The Destructors†, the author creates a story filled with symbolism, irony, grim reality, and a ritualized tradition that masks evil, which ultimately showcases how people blindly follow tradition. Outline I. Introduction II. Setting B. Time Period III. Plot A. What messages are seen inRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 Pagesreassurance when thoughts about harming the child recur in the future. Prior to the mid-1960s there was no effective psychological or pharmacological intervention for OCD. Applications of early behavioral techniques to OCD, such as systematic desensitization, modeling, operant reinforcement, aversion relief, and relaxation therapy, produced modest and rather mixed benefits (Emmelkamp, 1982; Foa, Franklin, Kozak, 1998; Kozak Foa, 1997). However, in 1966 Victor Meyer described a behavioral treatment