In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," she presents to us a tragic tradition that's held every year in a village. A lottery is typically thought of as a happy event and we often relate winning a lottery with good fortune and happiness. Yet, in the short story, the winner of the annual lottery will be stoned to death by all villagers and along with his/her family members. Tradition is a generalization of many of the varying forms of sacrifice that exist in modern society ranging from corporal punishment to religious laws to women injustice. In the short story, Shirley Jackson illustrates the reluctance of people to reject outdated and inappropriate traditions.
Unlike other appropriate traditions, caning is indeed like torture and is rigidly adhered because it has always been done that way. Caning is considered as a degrading punishment but it remains legal in numerous nations. The British introduced caning to Singapore when it was their colonial empire.
Shirley Jackson
Short story collection
Crime is down by more than 10% under this governme...Singapore government is ruthless about keeping the city safe and clean. In Southeast Asia, Singapore and Malaysia are the only two countries that practice caning. Convicted criminals are caned in Singapore not only for serious crimes but also non-violent offenses such as vandalism, overstaying one's visa or illegal immigration. They think some people did not get enough discipline at home, and perhaps whipping their behind gives a better message. Maybe one stroke has a place in the modern world, but repeated strokes are just torture. The most well-known case happened in 1993, where Michael Peter Fay pled guilty for vandalizing cars and stealing road signs. He was eventually sentenced to four strokes. The caning can leave permanent scars on the recipient. We would like to see retribution payments that fit the crime. Yet, vandalizing a car does not approach the level that...