hh_clubs | RESTRICTED SECTION: SHORT STORY DISCUSSION

JOIN THE CLUB!!
(hey mods, would you mind putting a link up to the application on the userinfo page?)

"THE LOTTERY" SHORT STORY DISCUSSION
(the book discussion is above this discussion)

It's time for the two readings discussions!

Rules, Regulations, and Points:

This discussion will run much like the debates held in the main community. To earn points, be sure to heed the following:
-The comment is at least five sentences long.
-The comment stays on topic. No personal attacks or arguments will be tolerated.
-The comment is signed. If you accidentally forget to sign it, please delete the comment and repost it with your name and house in it. No name/house= no points.
-Remember to comment with your subject in the subject line. Like "Christine/Phantom," for example. That way, people can more readly track discussions.

Points will be awarded as follows:
-10 points for your first comment (this will only be awarded once. Not twice, once for each discussion)
-50 points to the top commenter, one in the novel and and one in the short story discussion.
-40 points for second, one for novel and one for short story discussion
-30 points for third, one for novel and one for short story discussion.

Discussions will end Friday, March 24th. This will give you all two full weeks for discussion. Don't hesitate to ask me any questions!

Anna M // Restricted Section Mod

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm glad I joined this discussion when I did, because I've already been doing some research on group mentality and why people do things that other people see as obscene, inconceivable or cruel, and protest that "I would never do that."

It is very easy to look at stuff like this from an outsiders viewpoint and say "Oh, that's horrible. I could never do that. I would be the voice of reason, the one telling everyone else that it's wrong." In the actual situation, however, it might be easier to be brought under the sway of the group than you might think.

I don't know if anyone is familiar with the story of "The Wave", a classroom experiment performed in Palo Alto, California in the 1960's, but it applies here. After viewing a video on Nazi Germany, Ben Ross's students ere all telling him that "it could never happen again" and that "I would never do that." He essentially made these students into guinea pigs in an "experiment that got out of hand": it started off simply -he presented them with the concept of "Srength through discipline, strength through community, strength through action", basically streamlining the students in his class for success through militaristic behaviors. Next came membership cards for those in The Wave, along with the appointment of "Monitors" who were to keep tabs on the other students who were in The Wave and to attempt to "convert" students who weren't. The students all went along with this because they felt it was what they were supposed to do: it became sort of a game for most of them, and they all wanted to be the best. Pretty soon they were segregating themselves into Wave members and non-Wave members, with those who were not in the Wave receiving some pretty harsh treatment from those who were, who felt they were elite.

My point is, most of the school went along with this programming without even realizing what it was that was happening to them. It was something that they were told to do, and they did it. It became the norm, and was hardly ever questioned, much like The Lottery. These behaviors are so deeply programmed into people that they don't even recognize them -it's just what's done, like wearing clean clothes to work or brushing your teeth at night. If rituals will make life better, then okay, let's do that.
There's a reason that deprogramming is necessary to stop this sort of thing when it gets extreme: everyone sees it as normal.

Sangrita, Slytherin

Let me think about this for a second. I don't think that that is the best parallel because I don't think the Lottery was about superiority, I think it was more about tradiition. The fact that they continued to do this over and over because they feared wrath that couldn't happen. I do believe that this tradition was programed in to them but I don't think that it is the same process. I think the sotry has a lot to do with the desensitizing of the people to allow this to happen every year. They don't seem phased by the fact that yearly they murder someone because it was for the good of the community.

Jen//Hufflepuff

Right, but read the bottom paragraph again. I wasn't talking about superiority, I was saying that desensitization happens because they see the lottery as normal: it's just something they do, so why worry about it?

It is normal by then. I won't argue that. And I won't argue that they weren't desensitized. But I will argue that it really wasn't the best parrallel because though there was some desenitization in The Wave it was more about one group being more superior than the other. Though it's hard for me to think of one point in time where one group was completely taken over like this one was. Though I do think it would take a long time to get it this seeped in to where it is obeyed so throughly.

Jen//Hufflepuff

RESTRICTED SECTION: SHORT STORY DISCUSSION

Influence of norms and group mentality

Re: Influence of norms and group mentality

Re: Influence of norms and group mentality

Re: Influence of norms and group mentality