The Lottery by Beth Goobie is a Bad Influence on Teens Essay -- essays

A Bad Influence Throughout high school, the most essential trait to have above intellect and organization is good behavior. Without it, a student cannot be focused during a lecture, which can lead to disappointing grades and ultimately, a dreadful high school experience. The Lottery, by Beth Goobie encourages bad and rebellious behavior acted out by the protagonist Sally Hudson. At the start of the book, Sally gets picked by the school government as annual lottery winner. As lottery winner, Sally has to expect to be the butt of all jokes and for everyone to hate her. However, Sally gets told all the secrets and classified information the school has to offer. Sally does not enjoy becoming the outcast of the school so she tries to rebel. She eventually succeeds and the school government is forced to choose another person as lottery winner. This book is a bad influence on teens because it shows them that rebellion leads to triumph and that being devious and lying will grant them success in the future. In modern society, teenagers are being taught to be bold and honest, not sly or sneaky. We grew up hearing â€Å"since you told me the truth, it’s Okay,† by our parents. This way of thinking is correct, for what type of place would earth be if everyone was trying to swindle one another? However, in The Lottery the protagonist used sly and devious methods to get what she wanted. In the following quote, Sally gets exposed telling her best friend that she poisoned the president of the school council to avoid a meeting. â€Å"It was me, yes I poisoned Dusty†¦ it way the only way to avoid the council meetings† (Goobie 202). By using a dishonest way of getting what she wanted, Sally demonstrates how she is a negative role model for the world’s tee... ...nse to that is that it is tolerable to voice up in certain situations but not all the time or when it is unnecessary. In addition, some people may state that being sly is a good thing because it makes a person more cunning. My reply is it is fine if you think being sly will make you more intelligent as long as being sly doesn’t cross the line of unmoral. If it does, then the clever person will use his intelligence in a bad way as in Sally’s case. The Lottery is an incredibly bad influence on America’s youth because it portrays the protagonist as a sneaky rebellious individual who succeeds in life. Today’s teens as with any generation of youth is extremely lost and in dire need of direction. Books such as The Lottery should not be targeted towards teens for they are in a very fragile state of life. For if you hurt today’s teens, you are hurting tomorrow’s adults.