Social Traditions in “Fight Club” and “The Lottery” Essay

September 1, 2022 by Essay Writer

Updated: Aug 24th, 2020

All people who feel oppressed in the society should strive to fight for their rights rather than wait for some help (Ta 270). The truthfulness of the statement is analytical from the events in human life especially with the interactions within their social institutions. This work will, therefore, discuss the fact that the two stories; Fight Club and The Lottery both address our mainstream culture and its relationship with our social institutions. There is a need to consider such aspects of our lives because they are an element of the contemporary society where people fights for their rights. The pieces of literature chosen for this analysis have their contextual backgrounds in the modern cultures in which individuals have to fight for their rights. The rise of activist groups around the world is a way that makes the rulers aware of the importance of observing equity and fairness. The events of the stories outlined in the succeeding sections of this work justify the formulation that our mainstream culture determines the achievements that we make in life.

Fight Club is a story that depicts the need for determination in life especially in fighting for what we want to achieve. The story reflects the frustrations of American workers, especially the male characters who feel that they have the obligation to work for their rights (Eilperin 46). The people in the story think that the government offends them by regarding them as second-class citizens. They feel that the best way out is seeking for a chance to fight. For instance, they require a better health care system and not from the perspective that they are slaves (Vacker 23). The people feel that there should be something that defines them better than their bank accounts and their salaries.

The story could still be representing some of the frustrations that exist in the contemporary society. The relevance of Fight Club is, therefore, applicable to both the past, the present and the future of the lives of Americans and the rest of the world. The story addressed the thematic concerns of our mainstream stream culture; a society that is always fighting and pushing to meet the demands and the challenges of life. The battles experienced in America and across the globe result from the fact that people realize that the best way to let the governing institutions understand their obligations is to fight (Schuchardt 67). The resistance that the male characters of the story meet in their struggle for change reflects in the present society, which could be because the demonstrations and strikes across the globe.

Additionally, The Lottery is also a story that explains the fact that tradition has an effect on what people do. For instance, the author of the story attempts to make the story an element that mirrors our culture in the way we act (Shirley 67). The truthfulness of the statement manifests in the character of Old Man Warner. The mentioned character has traditional forces against change even in the circumstances that the change is a preference. He considers that any actions that may result in change are wrong because they have the potential of taking people back to their cave ages (Lusting 108).

The story also links the action of human sacrifice to better harvest, which is a form of tradition that the people in the old days believed. In such a context, there is a need to understand that change comes only as a result of the spirited fights that the people who pursue it contribute. The story hints that people need to determine the importance of change and the relevance of traditions (Ronis et al. 702). The understanding that change affects the social institutions of the society means that the story interprets the relationship between people and their social set ups. Just like Fight Club, the story describes the idea that change in the society results from hard work of persons. There is an understanding that the resistance to changes in the society is the source of all the evils.

In conclusion, change is an element of the society that is almost inevitable. The two stories analyzed in this work depict the idea that changes that emerge in the society are a product of the fights that people put in. There is also an understanding that people react to the changes in different ways. Another fact is the concept that human tradition is a determinant factor in the perceptions that people have towards change. In most cases, the proprietors of change have to fight the opposing forces that exist in the society because of the tradition that their culture impacts on them. In both accounts, there is a justification for the thesis that the events of the stories outlined in the preceding sections of this work justify the formulation that our mainstream culture determines the achievements that we make in life. Tradition prevents people from realizing the need for change, which is the cause of the friction that people who seek to change the society meet in their efforts.

Works Cited

Eilperin, Juliet. Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship Is Poisoning the House of Representatives. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print.

Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2008. Print.

Lustig, Richard. Learn How to Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2010. Print.

Ronis, David L., Ranald D. Hansen, and Virginia E. O’Leary. Understanding the meaning of achievement attributions: A test of derived locus and stability scores. Journal of Personality and Social psychology 44.4 (1983): 702.

Schuchardt, Read M. You Do Not Talk About Fight Club: I Am Jack’s Completely Unauthorized Essay Collection. New York: BenBella Books, Inc., 2015. Print.

Ta, Lynn M. Hurt so good: Fight Club, masculine violence, and the crisis of capitalism. The Journal of American Culture 29.3 (2006): 265-277.

Vacker, Barry. Slugging Nothing: [fighting the Future in Fight Club]. United States: Theory Vortex Experiments, 2009. Print.




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