Preview

Lottery: The Utilitarian Monster

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
364 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lottery: The Utilitarian Monster
The lottery is an example of the utilitarian monster because, in a lottery game, there are many losers, but only one winner. The happiness of the winner of a lottery ticket is very high, and when compared to the unhappiness of the losers, there is still, in theory, a net happiness gain. So in essence, the happiness of many (the losers) is sacrificed for the disproportionate happiness of one individual (the winner).
A case could be made for and against the lottery in terms of monetized utilitarianism. Besides, the lottery, which is state-owned, returns a percentage of the money taken from the players and redistributes it back to society. Thus, if there was no lottery, the players would still spend part of their income in another private gambling

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Lottery Essay

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Have you ever imagined being killed for winning a lottery? In “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author does an outstanding job describing the main character, the plot, and the theme. The character Tessie Hutchinson in this story makes the reader feel as if he or she is a part of the plot. Additionally, the plot of this story is very surprising and unexpected. Jackson does a really great job writing the story, and in the end it is very easy to think about a theme. Certainly, “The Lottery” is a perfect example of a story combining an interesting plot, good characterization, and a clear theme.…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    3. What similarities and differences do these stories have in common, considering where and when they take place…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shirley Jackson, author of the short story “The Lottery”, portrays population control as the purpose of the story. For instance, after the narrator states the amount of time the lottery took place in other villages, it continued saying, “... in this village, where there were only about three hundred people, the whole lottery took less than two hours…” (1) The period of the lottery in other towns was prolonged, but in this village, the lottery goes by quickly. The village kept a consistent population, and the population has never increased more than three hundred. In addition, Mr. Summers argued that he will need to use something sturdier than pieces of paper “... now that the population was more than three hundred and likely to keep on growing...”…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is absolutely no justice in the ‘The Lottery’. How is it right to stone someone to death for no particular reason. The determination of who gets stoned is methodical. The person chosen to die has done nothing wrong to end their life in such a way. Overall there is no justice in the villages idea of lottery.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson, is a compelling story about the human race and how it is affected by its surrounding traditions. When the 27th of June arrives, a village is overtaken by a two hour lottery, which includes the picking of stones, a black box and ends in a fight for the “winners” life.…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perspective causes people to see things from a new light. In The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, perspective hides the reality of the brutal murder that the town commits annually. Mr. Summers, the man who runs the lottery, is blinded by the thought that his ancestors did the lottery too. She projects how the people of the town don’t care about what the lottery is doing to them. The refusal of the townspeople to abandon tradition and question the lottery ritual suggests the negative consequences of blindly following tradition due to perspective.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    6. Lines 59–67: What might the box symbolize? What evidence supports your answer? Suggest an unspoken message that Jackson wants to convey to the reader about the lottery.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When you think of a lottery you really think of money and happiness. Technically speaking, on September 13, 2004 Tessie Hutchinson was killed after being stoned to death in Charlestone, New York.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Lottery

    • 307 Words
    • 1 Page

    The symbol that is the strongest in “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is the black box. This box represents the town’s tradition to the lottery even though they try to make it seem like it doesn’t really make sense to keep the tradition. This black box is not even the original black box that was used before, but rather made of pieces of the original box that had aged before it. The story says that “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained.”. However the town was unwilling to change the box due to some strange devotion to the tradition of the lottery even though they realize it’s not even the original box they still say things like “but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box” and “Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done.”. This black box was used by everyone in the town even the oldest man Mr. Warner which is another reason why they are so attached to it. The black box shows how much tradition means to this town because they are unwilling to even change the box even though they say some towns have even got rid of the lottery all together. Even though some things such as using paper instead of wood chips have changed they still maintain some kind of loyalty to the black box. The black box shows the ignorance of the town who are unwilling to give up old ways even though some have given up old traditions completely.…

    • 307 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    They care about the disadvantages because weak people cannot defend themselves from certain things. That's what the United States is about, protecting the weak from the strong. When people are addicted they fall victim to temptations and the government preys on these weaknesses. It encourages these addictions by offering small winnings and then players try to win bigger and bigger until they lose everything. Through operant conditioning, they learn to connect the lottery with winning and winning with satisfaction. The people who care about the advantages of the lottery care about the education system that they are a part of or are putting their children through. As parents and human beings we naturally want the best for ourselves and our kids. They care about their roads being paved so there are no potholes that total their car that will cost thousands of dollars in expenses. Also they care about the rights granted to us for being a citizen of the United States. We are granted the freedom to spend our money on whatever we desire within some legal guidelines. People need to realize that there are advantages and disadvantages of having a state & national lottery system in place. The evidence is clear and proves that both of these assumptions are accurate. Now the lottery and its system must be tweaked to accommodate the wants of the people, in order to help those who fall victim to…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages

    1. Early in the story, the boys stuff their pockets with stones, foreshadowing the attack in the story's conclusion. What other examples of foreshadowing can you identify?…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In “The Lottery” the characteristics describe it as a comedy. Even though the ending is tragic, the story contains no hero, and does not really teach a lesson. Rather it shows a culture of a village and it’s villagers. That leaning in culture shows more realistic, and more common language. Such as when Joe Summers enters the scene he says “Little late today, folks.” And when he needs help with carrying the black box he asks the Martins “Some of you fellows want to give me a hand?” This shows that the way he communicates resonates within a common folk, and every other character can relate to his type of communication. He is not speaking words that don’t make sense.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    When one thinks of a lottery, they imagine winning a large sum of money. Shirley Jackson uses the setting in The Lottery to foreshadow an ironic ending. The peaceful and tranquil town described in this story has an annual lottery, and you can't possibly guess what the "prize" is…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shirley Jackson’s, The Lottery, has raised questions in the back of every reader’s mind towards the destructive yet blind rituals of mankind. A reflection of ourselves is what we see when looking through the pond of Jackson’s mind. The Lottery clearly expressed Jackson’s feelings concerning traditional rituals through her story, opened the eyes of its readers to properly classify and question some of today’s traditions as cruel, and allowed room to foretell the outcome of these unusual traditions. Jackson’s feelings towards the misuse of tradition as an excuse to cause harm have triggered her creativity for the creation of The Lottery. Jackson obviously saw examples of this misuse of tradition and ingeniously placed it into an exaggerated situation to let us see how barbaric our actions are. The townspeople, in the story, all come together for the annual lottery; however, in an interesting twist, those participating stone the winner to death. Everyone in the story seems horribly uncivilized yet they can easily be compared to today’s society. Perhaps Jackson was suggesting the coldness and lack of compassion the human race can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. The People who were stoned to death represented values and good being as the townspeople, who represented society, cold-heartedly destroyed them ( Jackson 79 ). Immediately after reading The Lottery, one can compare the ritual, in the story, to some of today’s barbaric traditions in a new point of view. Hazing is a tradition that has been around forever. Some people do not see anything wrong with giving a new person a hard time; however, this ritual has caused numerous deaths and countless injuries all over the world. Hazing is a ritual performed in high schools, gangs, colleges, and even your own best friend can be in on it. Perhaps just as barbaric as the stoning, no good at all results from hazing. The running of the bulls, in Italy, may…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lottery

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In paragraph 1, readers are told that Victor lives on a reservation. What details elsewhere in the story establish this setting? What associations does this setting have for you? Do you think the story could take place anywhere else? -The other details that establish this setting is when they say, "So Victor called the tribal council." This association sets an understanding of how things work in a reservation. I do believe the story could have taken place in any other reservation.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays