Stereotypes Depicted In Shirley Jackson's The Lottery

The amount of people who are attacked almost daily just for being different is increasing by the day, all over the world. People are hurt and even killed over things like sex, race, gender, and sexuality. All things they cannot control. The chaos of the daily lives for these people is unimaginable, because they are stopped or called out for these things that they have absolutely no control over. Their version of normal life is hectic and would eventually become a toilsome way of life as they become accustomed to other people’s hurtful behaviour or actions. However, none of this should be breaking news to anyone, as these things have been constant for many years, even centuries, as people have always been treated poorly for things that are completely …show more content…
They have not actually done anything wrong. This is shown in “The Lottery” short story when Mrs. Hutchinson is stoned to death by a random lottery. The people participating do not give any thought to how she must feel or how unfair this must be for her because it is simply tradition for them. It is their routine to pick a random person and commit murder. Doesn't that seem unfair? Well it does happen in our society, people with “differences” from us are almost randomly chosen to be picked upon. It displays the unfairness that society shows them …show more content…
People can seem different than they really are as this is shown in the short story of “This goldfish I wish” when the news reporter is not is different from the protagonist as originally thought. They ended up being very similar, and their first impressions of each other did not show this. However later in the story it is shown.
So why, if from the very start of time itself, we have always enslaved and abused our fellow humans, should we treat them the same as we want to be treated? Why suddenly treat them better? Well, the simple answer is this: just because it happens does not mean it’s right. Imagine someone you love being beaten, or called names. Imagine one of your family members was murdered, and you find out it’s all because they were gay. Just because they’re gay, black, or transgender, doesn't mean their life meant any less to you or should be to anyone else. Yet it happens every single day to many people and their family members. No one should have to put up with this, especially not for something that they cannot control in the slightest. This will happen simply by treating all people we meet with respect. If we allow this to continue, humanity will not be so different from