Over the course of history, the behavior of humans have been highly questionable. Examples history textbooks display with factual evidence of monarchs slaughtering nations to conquer, people poisoning another for love, and betraying someone for one’s own selfish reasons. The mind blowing actions of past people, shows how human nature is not black and white but complex and complicated. In the stories “ The Lottery” and “ Young Goodman Brown” a character experiences sudden betrayal, which can help readers understand the shocking duality and complexity of human nature.
Tessie Hutchinson from “ The Lottery” and Goodman Brown form “ Young Goodman Brown” both encountered a shocking revelation about the people they knew. Tessie was betrayed by…show more content… The story of “The Lottery”, warns people about the betrayal of a village woman, because of the horrors of some traditions, the struggle of change, and fatal repercussions of being a scapegoat. The tradition passed down in “ The Lottery” was an event that was enforced for many generations, but it was not one with a happy ending. Someone was chosen to die, giving their life up to fulfill the role of the town’s scapegoat. This tragic event showed that there are certain traditions in the world that conflict with human morality. Killing humans, to majority of the world, is seen as inhumane crime, but to this village it’s apart of their culture. Also, in the story there was a conversation about surrounding villages thinking of doing away with the tradition, as stated by a villager, “ They do say, “ Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, “ that over in the north village they're talking about giving up the lottery” (Jackson 95). In response, Old Man Warner said, “ ...Pack of fools,” he said. “ Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while” (Jackson 95). His response indicated that giving up the tradition was idiotic because it was bringing the village down, and going back to the past. This character displayed to readers how the fear of change can result in the death of another. In “ Young Goodman Brown,” the main lesson learned in story was betrayal and the effects of betrayal and ill thinking. When finding out the people he knew turned their back on their god, his mind was filled with toxic thoughts about those people. This negative adjustment can happen to anyone who has experienced betrayal. Readers learned that people who have encountered someone wronging them, can obtain the same thoughts as Young Goodman Brown. They begin to question everyone