When I was in the 6th grade, we put on a skit for Hispanic heritage month in which I was a human sacrifice to Huitzilopochtli, the sun god. I leapt over a cardboard cutout of flames and landed a pile of gym mats (the flames were supposed to represent a volcano, even though according to Google the sacrifices were actually done on top of a temple).

Human sacrifice was a strange choice of skit to celebrate Hispanic heritage month, especially because human sacrifice is not unique to the Aztecs. The Etruscans, the Egyptians, the Chinese, the Inca, the Israelites, the Hawaiians, the Carthaginians, the Celts, and the Mesopotamians all engaged in human sacrifice. The premise of Shirley Jackson’s story “The Lottery” isn’t unusual in the course of human history – although the idea of human sacrifice taking place in a small village in the American Midwest definitely strikes a chord.

Is it morally acceptable to sacrifice one person for the good of the many?

The cultures I listed performed human sacrifices in order to earn the favor of the gods. In “The Lottery”, Old Man Warner claims there used to be a saying: ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ Would you sacrifice one life to keep three hundred people well-fed and safe from divine disaster?

Moral mathematics is the premise of the famous Trolley Problem, where you pull a lever and kill one person to save five. It’s the idea behind Gellert Grindelwald’s phrase “For the Greater Good”, and his desire for wizard dominion over muggles. It is how Thanos justifies killing 50% of the universe in order to improve the quality of life for the remaining 50%.

The United States Holocaust Museum features the poem:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

It’s easy to believe in the necessity of the sacrifice when you’re not the one who draws the fatal black dot. Tessie is perfectly fine with participating in the lottery – until her luck runs out. Of course, you might be very lucky, like Old Man Warner (who has survived seventy-seven lotteries), and you may never experience the cruelty of others in the name of “the greater good.” Still, whether you are silent or throwing the stones, there is a cost to being part of the crowd. Paulo Friere writes: “Freedom is…the indispensable condition for the quest for human completion…the oppressor, who is himself dehumanized because he dehumanizes others, is unable to lead this struggle” (Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 21).

We cannot sacrifice our way to a society that is free from cruelty and oppression. We must find a way to build a world, not for the many, but for all.