Mrs.Lannen
Lang & lit
03/12/14
Chris Abani “the Lottery” analysis
In”The Lottery” by Chris Abani there are a few clues as to how he views society as it is today. The story hints that the world justifies everything including murder with religion and elders are often disregarded. The story shows these a few times. In the fourth paragraph it tells about mob justice which explains that there are vigilantes who will execute people without having a trial.Later in the story the citizens throw rocks at an elder to get him to back off, after this a man who was caught stealing has a tire put around his neck and a young man says “You see why crime doesn’t pay? I’m doing this for you, you know? If you burn here you won’t burn in Hell. God is reasonable.” (Abani 2) This shows that the man who is about to burn the thief alive believes his actions are justified because god approves,the man being burned is a criminal, and he believes he’s doing the right thing because he is saving the thief from Hell. In conclusion “the lottery by Chris Abani shows his views on how the world works today by creating a scene of violence justified by religion which took place just after an elder tried to intervene and do the truly just thing but because he was old nobody listened and actually through stones at him.