The Lottery Q&A
Is the lottery a story about how humans are inherently evil; or is it just a critique of mindless human error (mob mentality)? The renowned philosopher Immanuel Kant once postulated a theory on human nature. We, as humans, are born inherently evil. We have violent tendencies and its very core, human nature is selfish. He goes on to say that we use religion, laws, and order to suppress these evident natures and live a "civil" life. In The Lottery, it is shown that people have an annual tradition where a "lottery" occurs, and the person who "wins" is stoned to death. It is a practice that seems almost indubitably (Sam Li told me to use this word to make me sound smart) barbaric by our modern standards. Of course we could make the argument that I set up, saying that human nature is violent and evil. However, another possibility exists. We as humans, don't realize the huge "errors" or mass "evil" we create because of mob menta...