The Lottery
Most of us obey every day without a thought. People follow company dress code, state and federal laws and the assumed rules of courtesy. Those who do disobey are usually frowned upon or possibly even reprimanded. But has it even occurred to you that in some cases, disobedience may be the better course to choose In her speech “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses these dangers of obedience, which are demonstrated in Shirley Jacksons short story “The Lottery.”
In “The Lottery,” the villagers portray Lessings observation that “it is the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion, as a member of a group” (334). The villagers also show, in a rather dramatic fashion, how being a blind follower of a group can be dangerous. As Lessing points out “the majority will continue to insist and after a period of exasperation the minority will fall into line”(334). This very sentiment is an enormous part of the inherent dangers of obeying a group.
The group behavior in “The Lottery” was certainly dangerous to all those involved. Aside from the obvious threat of the “winner” of the lottery being stoned to death; the general, and harmful opinion of this “group
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