What struck me at the end of the story is how it was described and narrated. Through the whole story, I had this good feeling. The lottery sounded like a happy, normal yearly event. I wasn’t feeling disgusted or outraged by it. This goes to show how a horrific act can sound just normal, even fine when it becomes a tradition. Having a good harvest sounds like a legitimate, good reason but when we look at the price to pay for it (sacrificing someone’s life) it just feels wrong and evil.
Making the lottery a practice, and having people participating in it and abiding by its rules with no objection, more so involving their children in this ritual as if they are celebrating the 4th of July, proves my point earlier about Clitoridectomy, When I said that I think it is an immoral practice but maybe if I was born in a country that believes in it and where everyone practice it, I wouldn’t think so. Cultural beliefs can have a great power over people, with just the right amount of reasons you can justify a horrible act like the lottery even if those reason are not logical. Once they are approved and accepted by a certain amount of people, they become the norm. That’s why we have to take a serious look at our cultures, try to think about the validity of most traditions we practice. Though not all of them are harmful, we still need to sort out the dangerous ones and stop believing blindly in what we were told and thought.