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The Lottery’s Sacrificial Figure: Unraveling the Dark Side of Tradition in Pleasantville

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In the small village of Pleasantville, the annual tradition of the lottery has been upheld for generations. It is a seemingly harmless event, eagerly anticipated by the villagers, as they gather in the town square on a warm summer day. The atmosphere is festive, filled with laughter and chatter. Children run about, and adults exchange pleasantries. Whispers and hushed conversations become more common, and individuals cast apprehensive glances at one another. The reason for this change in the atmosphere becomes apparent when Tessie Hutchinson arrives a bit late to the gathering. As the lottery commences, Tessie joins the crowd, standing alongside her husband and children. The lottery is overseen by Mr. Summers, the jovial and affable organizer of the event.

He proceeds with the proceedings with an air of casualness, as though it were all just a harmless game. The lottery begins innocuously enough, as the villagers draw slips of paper from the black box. Tessie’s unease intensifies, and she exchanges anxious glances with her family members. When it is her husband’s turn to draw, Tessie implores him to be careful, her voice betraying her anxiety. Finally, the moment arrives when Tessie herself must draw from the box. When Mr. Summers announces that Tessie has drawn the marked slip of paper, the mood in the crowd changes dramatically. The joviality is replaced by a tense silence. Tessie’s protests and pleas fall on deaf ears, and she is declared the “winner” of the lottery. In that moment, Tessie’s life changes irreversibly.

The same community that was once her source of support and comfort now turns against her. She is surrounded by people she has known all her life, people she has shared laughter and sorrow with, yet they now stand as an ominous and judgmental mass. As the villagers pick up stones, Tessie’s desperation intensifies. She tries to reason with them, to make them see the cruelty and senselessness of the tradition they uphold. But her pleas are futile, drowned out by the weight of tradition and the collective will of the community. The stones rain down on Tessie, and she falls to the ground, silenced forever. The lottery continues as planned, as though nothing significant has occurred.

However, as time passes, the memory of Tessie Hutchinson fades. The village returns to its routine, and the lottery becomes a distant memory until the following year. The tradition continues, upheld by fear and the belief that it brings prosperity to the community. And so, the cycle perpetuates, with each generation of villagers participating in the lottery without question. Some admired her for her courage, while others found her attitude disruptive and challenging. As the day of the annual village lottery approached, Tessie’s demeanor seemed to change. There was an underlying tension in the air, and she appeared nervous and on edge.

The lottery was a long-standing tradition in the village, and everyone participated without question. However, this year, Tessie seemed to be more anxious than ever before. As the lottery ceremony began, Tessie stood among the villagers, clutching her paper slip tightly in her hand. The once-bold woman seemed to crumble under the weight of her fate. Her protests and pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as the villagers closed in around her. The same people she had known for years, her friends and neighbors, were now turning against her, ready to carry out the brutal tradition without hesitation. In that moment, Tessie became a symbol of sacrifice and the dark side of human nature.

She represented the vulnerability of individuals in the face of tradition and collective mentality. Her character highlighted the dangers of blindly following customs and the potential for cruelty and violence that lurked within even the most seemingly ordinary communities. As the stones began to rain down upon Tessie, the crowd’s frenzy reached a peak. It was a chilling display of the mob mentality, where individuals became swept up in the collective action, losing sight of their own humanity and empathy. The act of stoning Tessie became an act of self-preservation for the villagers, as they sought to appease the supposed powers that controlled their fate. In her tragic fate, Tessie Hutchinson became a cautionary tale about the dangers of blind obedience and the consequences of failing to question long-standing traditions.

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The Lottery’s Sacrificial Figure: Unraveling the Dark Side of Tradition in Pleasantville. (2023, Aug 06). Retrieved from https://samploon.com/the-lotterys-sacrificial-figure-unraveling-the-dark-side-of-tradition-in-pleasantville/

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