Humans sometimes feel that stereotypical beliefs or values are the black and white of life. In contrast, people are also unfitted to accept misleading truth. The perpetuation of archaic gender roles in “The Lottery” and the inability to accept unconventional truth in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” highlights the negative effects of unexamined or misplaced values. In the attempt to accept truth, the townspeople in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” finds out the truth in an unexpected manner.
The incapability to accept unconventional truth in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” explains the negative effects of unexamined values and beliefs. For example, the family in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” calls in a neighbor woman who knows everything about life and death to see the man. “He’s an angel… He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down.” People will often turn to, or use religion as an alternative to examine truth. “The Parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet his ministers.” When realizing the truth is not unorthodox, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. “That was how Father Gonzaga was cured forever of his insomnia and Pelayo’s courtyard went back to being as empty as during the time it had rained for three days and crabs walked through the bedrooms. Generally speaking, accepting unconventional truth leads to stereotypical beliefs.
The longevity of archaic gender roles in “the lottery” highlights the negative effects of misplaced beliefs or values. For example, when the “wife draws for her husband” it feels very out of place. The townspeople are not used to a woman drawing let alone draw for her husband. “Don’t you have a grown boy to do it for you, Janey?” In these times, the men and boys are the leaders of households and hold the authority out in public compared to women. “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example… The girls stood aside, talking among themselves, looking over their shoulders at the boys.” The authority of men plays a big role of how well the children listen and respond to their mothers. The women start to call the children “and the children came reluctantly, having to be called four or five times. Bobby Martin ducked under his mothers grasping hand and ran, laughing, back to the pile of stones. His father spoke up sharply, and Bobby came quickly and took his place between his father and his oldest brother”. The sexist theme of the story explains in great detail how discriminatory the times back then were.
In conclusion, the perpetuations of archaic gender roles in “The Lottery” and the inability to accept unconventional truth in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” highlights the detrimental effects of unexamined or misplaced values.
