Salem Witch Trials

Introduction â€Å"Salem Possessed† is a book written by Paul S. Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum which focuses on Salem Witch Trials. The writers explain that the problem began in the year 1691 and was marked by the behaviour of some girls in the same village who were involved in fortune telling. They were using a makeshift crystal ball to foretell their future and were aided by a slave couple which had come from Western India.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Salem Witch Trials specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The first trial began on February in the year 1692 after the arrest of three women who were being accused of witchcraft. The women were inclusive of Sarah Osborn and Sarah Good who did not did not agree to the charges and Tituba who voluntarily agreed to the charges and did not plead innocent. Around one hundred and eighty five people had been accused by the time the trials came to an end of wh ich one hundred and forty one were women while the rest were men. The same study explains that out of the total number of the accused, there were fourteen women and five men. Those who faced trial were fifty two women and seven men and finally, those who were convicted were twenty six women and five men (Linder Para. 6). Since Salem was a religious community, the trials came to and end following a sermon by Increase Marther. The preacher was for protecting innocent people from being persecuted. With that background in mind, this paper shall describe the Salem witch trials and narrow down to women and property in relation to the same. The Plot Summary The introductory part has highlighted the main points of Salem Witch Trials and it is equally important to discuss the summary of activities which were taking place to be in a position to analyze some themes of the same. The plight of Salem started when one of the church elders by the name John Putman invited Samuel Paris to preach in t he village. Paris latter agreed to become the minister of the village after he was given a better remuneration which included a better salary, privileges as well as allowances.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More During that period, studies indicate that people were divided into two groups of people: the Porters and the Purtnams and all were competing for political as well as religious leadership (Boyer and Nissenbaum pp. 124). Witchcraft accusations were stirred by the sickness of a young girl who was known as Betty Paris. The girl was complaining of pain and fever and although there was a likelihood that the symptoms were as a result of a disease or some condition like child abuse, it was not possible by then to know the cause of the misery. Nevertheless, some people in the village suspected witchcraft to be the underlying cause. Villagers started to think more about witchcraft w hen close friends of the sick girl started to experience the same symptoms. The three girls who were experiencing similar symptoms were known as Mary Walcott, Mary Lewis and Ann Putnam. Although a doctor was consulted to treat them, studies indicate that he diagnosed the problem to have been caused by a supernatural cause (Murphy, Par. 3). Since the villagers believed that young children were the main target of the witches, there was little cause to doubt the diagnoses. In view of the fact that Salem villagers supposed that dogs were used by witches to bewitch people, one woman proposed the same dogs to be used to verify whether the victims were actually bewitched or not. To affirm, this dogs were given a cake that was mixed with the urine of the victim and in case the dog and victim displayed similar behaviour, it was concluded that the victim was actually bewitched. The number of the bewitched girls continued to increase and it turned out to be a matter of concern since villagers became obsessed with it. The trial began when the two girls; Betty and Abigail named the people whom they thought were responsible for their misery. Nevertheless, the analysis of the trial and accusations revealed that the two girls drafted their accusation stories collaboratively. Other girls who were likewise afflicted maintained that they had seen witches flying during winter and were supported by the family of Putnam which was very prominent (Boyer and Nissenbaum pp. 126). As highlighted in the introductory part, the first group to be accused was composed of three women namely Osborn, Good and Tituba. While Osborn was old and querulous, Good was a beggar who never had a permanent dwelling place and survived mainly by begging for food and shelter from the villagers.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Salem Witch Trials specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two magistrates who were dealing with witchcraft cases were John Hathome as well as Jonathan Corwoin. The girls and the villagers volunteered to offer information concerning the accused women. While the girls explained that they suffered greatly in the presence of the accused, villagers maintained that their animals disappeared or were born with deformities once the accused visited their compounds. It was clear that the judges believed that the women were guilty especially due to the questions which they asked them such as whether they had either seen Satan or whether they believed whether they were witches or not (Sutter, Para. 5). The trial would have taken another course were it not for Tituba who confessed to the accusations. The woman explained that she was once approached by Satan who was a tall man from Boston and latter was requested to be his servant and affirm the same by signing a book. The woman explained that the tall man would either appear as a dog or even as a hog. Although she tried to seek religious counsel; the woman described that she was prevented from doing so by the devil. Most surprisingly, Tituba explained that she had around four witches who were serving Satan with her, Osborn and Good included. Consequently, due to her confession, the ministers started to look for more witches and majority of the witchcraft sceptic also became silent (Boyer and Nissenbaum pp. 90). Some other women were accused of witchcraft especially after the girls reported that they were being attacked by them. Young girls were also accused of the same evil; as young as four years of age. The audience had no other reason other than to believe especially due the confession of the afflicted girls who even confessed of being made dumb by the same witches. As time went by, one accused by the name Deliverance Hobbs also confessed to witchcraft accusations. Due to the increased witchcraft cases, Phips the governor by then established a new court for the purpose of conducting witchcraft trials and appointed five judge s for the same purpose. The trials involved close examination of the accused by the judges and even use of gossip, stories and hearsay. The accused were most disadvantaged as they were not allowed to appeal or to have witnesses to testify on their behalf.Advertising Looking for research paper on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The trials continued to take place even after the trial of Bridget Bishop who was the first man to be tried and hanged. It was risky for anyone to be against the accusations and such a person also stood a chance of being victimized. Some of the people who confessed were allowed to live but most of them were hanged, stoned and some died in prison (The Salem Witch Trials Par. 8). Further studies indicate that the trials came to an end in the year 1693 and some of the accused who were still prison were pardoned and allowed to continue with their normal lives. Analysis Women and Property Most scholars have been committed to analyze the issue of Salem witch trials and have come up with different conclusions. To begin with, a virtual analysis of the accused witches indicates that the total number of the accused women were far much more than men. Most importantly, although some couples were accused, studies indicate that most of the women who were accused were widows. It is also important to note that young girls were also accused of the same crime (Sutter, Para 5). The critical analysis of the whole issue indicates that there was a big difference between the accusers and the accused. Studies of Campbell (Para. 4) illustrate that most of the people who were accused were living in the south and they were wealthier than the accusers since they had much property. In addition, most of the accused families were aimed at gaining properties from the accused once they were convicted. Religious factors also came into play since studies indicate that while most of the accused witches were in support of George Burroughs, the accusers and their families were against him and actually contributed greatly in forcing the ex minister to leave their territory (Murphy, Par. 3). Conclusions As much as men were accused and convicted of witchcraft, women were the main victims. Majority of the women who were accused and convicted were aged forty years and above. In most cases, men who were accused happened to be the relatives of the women witches. Most of the people who were accused were rich, relatively rich or powerful. A critical analysis of the issues in Salem indicates that there were underlying causes to the problem which may be inclusive of economic factors as well as sexual and doctrinal threat (Linder, Par. 8). This is the main reason why most of the people who were accused were wealthy widows. They were viewed as a threat to some traditions involving the transfer of property from the fathers to the sons. In addition, women who never had male children were also at a greater risk of being accused due to the same issue. Women who inherited property from their husbands were also at a greater risk of being accused especially when there were male children in the same family (Campbell Para 8.). However, there were some who never had property but were still accused like Martha Carrier. Therefore, it cannot be an understatement to conclude that Salem witch trials we re spurred by economic, social and religious issues. Works Cited Boyer, Paul S. and Stephen Nissenbaum. Salem possessed: the social origins of witchcraft. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974. Print. Campbell, Donna M. Salem Witch Trials as Fact and Symbol. Web. Linder, Douglas. The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary. Web. Murphy, Kate. Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Web. Sutter, Tim. Salem Witchcraft: The Events and Causes of the Salem Witch Trials. 2000. Web. The Salem Witch Trials. 2010. Web. This research paper on Salem Witch Trials was written and submitted by user SteelSerpent to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on The Erie Canal

The Erie Canal In the early eighteen hundreds transportation lacked the efficiency and practicality that we are used to in today’s society. What were once called roads were no more then beaten paths made by animals or the constant travel of horse and wagon. Rivers were an unreliable source of transportation due to the current, constant changes in the wind, beaver damns, droughts, and of course mother-nature. The lack of transportation kept the west out of the economy for the most part. Farmers would make the trip from the west with their crop but it did not make sense for the majority of people because the cost of transportation was very high due to the slow pace and consumption of time. The farmers were not making profits which lead many to the idea of joining the east and the west, north and south to boost the economy. Roads, turnpikes, and railroads accomplished the goals of many to join America as one; with one economy. Besides these means, there was another way of transportation that is often overlooked, the canal. Canals are man made waterways that we, not mother-nature, can control that would connect two main water sources for easy transportation. The Erie Canal is a wonderful example of one such waterway that was built in record time, boosted New York’s economy and was an example of great American achievement. After a second war against Great Britain, the War of 1812, the people of the United States were feeling confident about the future of their expanding nation. Thousands of pioneers struggled over a rough barrier: the thickly wooded Appalachian Mountains that extended down the continent. On the other side was the tantalizing west, stretching clear to the Mississippi River and beyond. Settlers’ wagons jolted down roads that had once been Indian trails. When farmers and fur trappers got to the lonely frontier, they found that it cost too much and took too long to ship apples, flour, wood, and pelts to... Free Essays on The Erie Canal Free Essays on The Erie Canal The Erie Canal In the early eighteen hundreds transportation lacked the efficiency and practicality that we are used to in today’s society. What were once called roads were no more then beaten paths made by animals or the constant travel of horse and wagon. Rivers were an unreliable source of transportation due to the current, constant changes in the wind, beaver damns, droughts, and of course mother-nature. The lack of transportation kept the west out of the economy for the most part. Farmers would make the trip from the west with their crop but it did not make sense for the majority of people because the cost of transportation was very high due to the slow pace and consumption of time. The farmers were not making profits which lead many to the idea of joining the east and the west, north and south to boost the economy. Roads, turnpikes, and railroads accomplished the goals of many to join America as one; with one economy. Besides these means, there was another way of transportation that is often overlooked, the canal. Canals are man made waterways that we, not mother-nature, can control that would connect two main water sources for easy transportation. The Erie Canal is a wonderful example of one such waterway that was built in record time, boosted New York’s economy and was an example of great American achievement. After a second war against Great Britain, the War of 1812, the people of the United States were feeling confident about the future of their expanding nation. Thousands of pioneers struggled over a rough barrier: the thickly wooded Appalachian Mountains that extended down the continent. On the other side was the tantalizing west, stretching clear to the Mississippi River and beyond. Settlers’ wagons jolted down roads that had once been Indian trails. When farmers and fur trappers got to the lonely frontier, they found that it cost too much and took too long to ship apples, flour, wood, and pelts to...

Pros and Cons of a Federal System of Government Essay

Pros and Cons of a Federal System of Government - Essay Example Given the basic definition, a federal system of government consist of two or more levels of governments existing within an established territory governing through common structures/institutions with shared or overlapping powers prescribed by a supreme constitution (Shafritz, Edwin and Christopher, 2010). The central government is at the level of the sovereign state tasked with responsibilities of maintaining national security and conducting international diplomatic relations, covering the right of signing binding treaties. The central government is basically mandated to make binding laws for the whole federation; the power that local governments do not posses. Within its structure, the central government functions with ministries, departments alongside agencies in administering the federation. Federalism is thus a political as well as a philosophical concept that outlines how political power is divided or rather distributed to different levels of governments. The extent of division o f power between the levels of governance in a democratic nation may vary. However, the most vital powers relating to security and the stability of the entire union are granted to the center, with regional governments sharing subsidiary responsibility. ... In particular, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and Brazil are all examples of federal governments. With regard to the United States, federalism has been an ever evolving relationship between state governments and the federal government. From a system of dual federal system, the American governance structures have evolved to that of associative federalism. In the "Federalist No. 46," James Madison asserts that both levels of governments "are distinct agents and trustees of the citizenry, constituted with distinct powers." According to Alexander Hamilton, ("Federalist No. 28), both levels of government were constituted to exercise authority to the benefit of the citizens. That is to say, if in case the peoples' rights were trampled upon by either of the two, they could make use of the other level of government as the instrument of redress (Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, 1961). As with every system of governance, federalism as a model of governance characterized by sharing of power is not perfect, neither is it any close to achieving perfect harmonious relations among its components. As a system corrected through the ages to achieve its current status in the United States, it is an obvious fact that federalism has its merits and the disadvantages. One of the prime benefits of a federal system is the degree of autonomy granted to regional governments in deciding their local laws, in spite of being a part of a whole. In the US, every state has the authority to modify local laws to fit the local demands. The system is also advantageous with respect to degree with which governance is simplified to achieve the distribution of power. In effect, local problems are dealt with at the local level without letting them gravitate to the national level

DQ 2 & DQ 3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DQ 2 & DQ 3 - Research Paper Example 80). As such, this paper will discuss why it is believed that the process of motivation in this unit can help it to function more effectively. The morale of staff members especially nurses in the unit I worked for at Hospice was generally low. This was mainly as a result of the fact that they were not motivated and this is the reason why staff turnover was quite high in this unit. Essentially, the human factor is the most critical element that can contribute to the effectiveness and success of any operation. Through effective leadership, the employees need to be motivated so that they can put optimum effort in their performance. Basically, motivation is described as â€Å"anything done or efforts made to encourage the behaviour of employees towards better performance in the course of accomplishing the goals of the organization,† (Omowumi &Osamede, 2011, p. B584). Motivation includes incentives, inducements and rewards that are often given to employees in the organization in a bid to boost their morale which in turn enhances productivity. This is an effective strategy of enhancing performance in the department rather than maintaining the status quo. The workers in this particular unit need to be motivated so that they can improve their performance. There are various strategies that can be implemented in order to motivate the workers. For instance, it is imperative to improve the working environment so that the employees can enjoy working in this particular unit. This can be done through creating and implementing a work culture that is inclusive and accommodative to different views of the employees working in the unit. This will help to create a sense of belonging to the unit among the workers since they would be treated as valuable assets. The other strategy that can motivate the workers is related to their involvement in the decision making process since this helps them to feel that they are

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Introduction To Health Information Technology Health Essay

Introduction To Health Information Technology Health Essay Health informatics as (Conrick, 2006) sees it is the field that concerns itself with the cognitive, information processing, and communication tasks of medical practice, education, and research including the information science and technology to support those tasks. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize acquisition, storage, and retrieval. Health informatics tools include computers as well as clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. More broadly speaking, its emphasis is on clinical and biomedical applications with the added possibility of the integrating these clinical components either among themselves or to more administrative-type health information systems. HIT is defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as a comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between healthcare consumers and providers (Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). The recent advances in Health Information Technology (HIT) have transformed hospitals, medical centers, and clinics paper filing management into Electronic medical record systems (EMR). (Protti et al. describes Electronic medical records as a medical record in digital format. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology describes electronic medical records as an electronic record of health-related information on an individual that can be created, gathered, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff within one healthcare organization. (Hinman and Ross, 2010). For decades healthcare industries around the globe have invested significant portions of their health information technology budgets into acquiring best-of-breed clinical technologies in order to have the best tools to effectively and efficiently heal and treat patients. The UAE healthcare industry has kept in pace with the advancements in this area; however, the infrastructure of HIT in healthcare industries worldwide lags years, and sometimes decades, behind other industries such as the banking and logistics industries. Æ’Å ¸ information like this requires a source to prove its credibility. In recent efforts to improve healthcare quality several countries around the world have proposed healthcare reforms through information technology while emphasizing the concept of electronic health records. Electronic health record (EHR) as (Protti et al., 2009) sees it refers to an individual patients medical record in digital format. EHR systems coordinate the storage and retrieval of individual records with the aid of computers, which are usually accessed on a computer, often over an internal network. While most of the literature does not distinguish between the concepts of the electronic medical record and the electronic health record, (Hinman and Ross, 2010) explain EHR as an electronic record of the range of services received by a single patient within his or her lifetime from various providers and across a series of institutions. They further describe the electronic health record as containing health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized i nteroperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one healthcare organization. The purpose of this paper is to research and assess the key factors for the successful introduction of a new healthcare management software program called (eCare) in all hospitals and clinics across the UAE. The paper will aim to identify the target market, analyze the current key competitors, define the products competitive advantage, and evaluate and propose solutions to overcome its major weaknesses. UAE Healthcare Industry background The Healthcare sector in the United Arab Emirates is divided into 3 main sectors: Government Hospitals, ministry Hospitals, and Private Hospitals; government hospitals are governed by the emirates government and funded by each emirate separately. Ministry hospitals are governed by the UAE federation and funded by the ministry of health for all its hospitals across the seven emirates. Finally, the private hospitals are funded through their own administrations. All these hospitals in the end follow the rules and guidelines of the ministry of health while maintaining all levels of control of its procedures and practices as long as it abides by the ministrys health guidelines. Æ’Å ¸ can you provide a source for this info? The more sources the better. Business Model eCare is an innovative information management system based heavily on developing electronic health records and emphasizing health information exchange across the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Our target market is the whole UAE healthcare network which includes government, ministry, and private hospitals as well as medical centers, clinics, and pharmacies across the seven emirates. We aim to provide the UAE with a simple, robust and flexible information management system that will facilitate the delivery of quality, integrated and cost effective healthcare services. eCare will facilitate the following objectives for the medical and administrative staff of the target market: Health information exchange between all healthcare providers database systems in order to create a single medical record for each patient through his or her national ID as an identifier. Online access to medical records, irrespective of patients location or service provider. Real-time drug dispensing and automated labeling and drug interaction alerts. A synchronized system will help different physicians in even different healthcare facilities avoid prescribing drugs with interactional problems. Real-time monitoring of disease trends in particular areas of the UAE and treatment outcomes. Online database of external medical bills and services promoting a streamline and efficient billing system. Online reports and statistics that cover the whole country as well as the ability to view detailed health reports for each emirate without giving away patients personal information (de-identification). Online processing and reporting of lab results and real time imaging investigations. Real-time appointment scheduling. eCare standards aim to achieve functional and efficient outcomes in health information exchanges. Health Information Exchange (HIE) is defined as the mobilization of healthcare information electronically across organizations within a region or community (Overhage et al., 2005). HIE provides the capability to electronically move clinical information among healthcare information systems while maintaining the meaning of the information being exchanged. Healthcare communities worldwide continue to adopt new approaches to better serve an increasingly complex patient population. eCare aims to improve safety of the patients, simplify service providers workflow through faster and more distributed access to medical information. Security of patients files is the number one priority in eCare standards that is why it emphasizes on the use of digital signatures and sophisticated file encryption methods so that hospital information systems can deliver EHRs to individual patients for personal health management purposes. Furthermore, eCare is a partner of the Health Level Seven standards organization which creates standards for the exchange, management and integration of electronic healthcare information. BOOK1REFERENCE Current Competitors eCare is the first of its kind in offering a full featured system proposed for the UAE government. The healthcare industry is young in the country while resources and capital are available to invest in it; however few rival companies tried to propose similar solutions for the UAE government. iCare Healthcare (iCHC) is a healthcare informatics and consulting firm assisting private and public sectors in establishing high standard healthcare systems. iCHC offers 14 different software solutions mainly focused on providers-payers solutions and not a fully fledged health information infrastructure that connects all healthcare providers in the country. The main concern of iCHC is to implement an electronic means for healthcare providers to connect with insurance companies, while eCares objectives cover important key elements of the healthcare industry in the UAE. (you need to provide a source for your information about iCare. Again, this is not a complete discussion of the competition. You are only going to mention one competitor? All the hospitals in the UAE must currently use some kind of medical record system What is it? You must compete with this and you must be able to convince all the hospitals to make the switch to your product how will you do this? Strategic competitive advantage Financing: The cost of implementing electronic health records and a system capable of exchanging health information has been an obstacle to their widespread adoption. The cost of any system implementation is usually borne by the hospital administration and taken out of the annual budget. However, the future of EHR and Health Information exchange promises more rewards and benefits to the healthcare industry and to its main stakeholder, the society. Implementation of a national infrastructure will require the government to financially support healthcare providers in order to overcome the cost issue. eCare will offer the government flexible and easy methods of payment that covers all aspects of the design, development, testing and rollout phase of the system as well as training the health care professionals and administrators to maximize the system utilization. Innovation: eCare is custom built to satisfy the needs of its customers as it can include several add-on options and can also be utilized to allow patients to view their personal medical records through simplified and secure interface. Reliability: eCare offers a variety of health information technology solutions which connects different stakeholder such as health care providers, patients and insurance companies to maximize the EHR utilization that is protected against theft, fraud and breaches through several levels of security measurements. eCare also improves the quality and reliability of health information through decreasing number of redundant data and minimizing medical errors. Major Problems Interoperability In the healthcare sector, interoperability is the ability of different information technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange medical data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use the information related to the patient that has been exchanged. (Bailey et al., 2008). Berler et al. illustrated that the integration of information systems represents one of the most urgent priorities of a Regional Healthcare Authority (RHA) in order to meet its clinical, organizational and managerial needs. Current practice shows that the most promising approach to achieve a Regional Healthcare Information System (RHIS) is to use a HL7 message-based communication system implemented by an asynchronous common communication infrastructure between healthcare sites (Berler et al., 2004). Privacy and Security Issues Data security and confidentiality of health information are two of the most important concerns in the application of electronic health technologies. Security access is a major concern as e-health technologies become available to a huge number of users spread across the whole country. Taking the banking industry as an example; the sensitivity of our personal financial information ranks right up there with the privacy and security of our personal health information; however, people establish relationships not only with the branch they opened an account with, and shared all their personal information with but also with a global network of real-time financial information; therefore eCare is also able to take appropriate measurements such as firewall protection, data encryption, and password access can all be employed to secure patients personal and health information. Just as in the banking system, eCare can also enable the patients to control their medical records as much as they handle their financial investments; one of the major issues of an interconnected healthcare infrastructure is security and privacy of the information and who is allowed to handle these confidential information and how to limit the impact of mishandling patients personal information; eCare will provide patients with an option to select the healthcare providers they want to share their personal information with. In case of online reports and statistics all patients personal information are kept anonymous. Conclusion The healthcare industry relies on data and information for every aspect of its delivery cycle it is hard to imagine healthcare without information technology to manage the unprecedented amount of information and data flowing in the healthcare industry. Building a national HIT infrastructure with abilities of exchanging electronic health care records will result in tremendous improvements in several aspects of the healthcare industry in the UAE such as the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality, and safety of medical care delivery in the healthcare system.

Tradition in Shirley Jacksons The Lottery Essay -- Shirley Jackson Lo

Tradition in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shirley Jackson?s insights and observations about society are reflected in her shocking and disturbing short story The Lottery. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first is the shocking tendency for societies to select a scapegoat and second is the idea that communities are victims of social tradition and rituals. Anyone with knowledge of current events must be aware of times when society has seized upon a scapegoat as means of resolution. Countless politicians, military leaders, corporate executives and school administrators frequently use this proven technique.   The people of the small village were very similar to the leaders of our society.   The village people believed that someone had to be sacrificed to insure a good crop. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon", said Old Man Warner. It is scary to realize the similarities in the reasoning of the villagers and the reasoning employed today.   The villagers are aware that the sacrifice is inhumane but none want to stand and voice their opinion, for fear of going against society?s standards and being outcast or being stoned. "It?s not the way it used to be," Old Man Warner said clearly. "People ain?t the way they used to be." The population fears that if they go against society they might be chosen as the lottery winner OR disrupt thei r corn season. "Some places have already quit lotteries," Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly. "Pack of young fools." By stoning Tessie, the villagers treat her as a scapegoat onto which they can project and repress their own temptations to rebel. The only person who shows their rebellious attitude is Tessie. She does not appear to ... ...d us or that we cause, is pointless and has no purpose. Yet this violence and evil grows from a seed within our hearts and minds waiting to free itself in times of panic and turmoil. We need to learn to find solutions to our problems instead of putting the blame on others as means of a remedy. When there are no other corrupt and sinful human beings to kill, society will turn on itself. Even caring and normal human beings can throw stones. Forgotten traditions can also be extremely dangerous as Shirley Jackson points out in her short story. People hear what they want to hear and choose what rituals to keep for traditions. As a society, we are just like the villagers, forgetting the original purpose of our rituals but continuing to go through the motions. Works Cited: Jackson, Shirley ?The Lottery and Other Stories.? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.