Lack of Empathy
A Shift In Perspective
Empathy is a skill that many people lack. The absence of empathy is shown in the stories “The most dangerous game” by Richard Connell, “The sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty and “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Because the main characters in these three works all were willing to kill before they were personally affected, it is clear that people justify their faults until their perspectives change.
Rainsford justifies his faults in “The Most Dangerous Game” by claiming that animals are emotionless, so it is rational to kill them. Rainsford is a notorious and cold hearted hunter on his way to hunt in the Amazon. During a conversation with his friend Whitney about the sport of hunting, he says “Who cares how a jaguar feels?…They’ve no understanding” (Connell 1). Rainsford enjoys hunting and upholds killing creatures because he has always been the hunter and never the hunted. Rainsford meets Zaroff, who hints that he preys on humans. When Rainsford realizes that he is going to be Zaroff’s prey, he questions him “Thank you, I’m a hunter, not a murderer…Suppose he refuses to be hunted?…And if they win?”(Connell 9). Rainsford has a new understanding and compassion for the prey after his experience of being hunted. Thus, Rainsford gains perspective on both sides of a hunt and expands his view on the sport of hunting which accentuates the fact that it can take effects of an extreme situation to stop self-righteousness.
Rainsford is not alone in justifying his wrongdoings; The republican sniper does it as well in “The sniper” when he ruthlessly shoots at his “enemies”. During a war in Ireland, the republican sniper kills two people without any remorse whatsoever. After shooting his nemesis “He peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit” (O’Flaherty 2). The sniper dehumanizes his opponent and even describes his happiness after killing him. He uses war as a pretext to justify his actions. At the end of the story, the sniper wonders about the identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He is curious about who the opponent is so “the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother’s face” (O’Flaherty 3). The sniper is able to overlook and excuse his misdoings until he realizes that he killed his own brother. As a result, the sniper’s attitude towards war changes, emphasizing that it can take a catastrophe to change one’s perspective and stop self-justification.
Tessie as well shows lack of compassion in “The Lottery” when she joins the community in their horrible tradition of killing a human. The entire village gathers to conduct the lottery and Tessie willingly participates. After joining the crowd, Tessie says to Mrs. Delacroix “Clean forgot what day it was…and then I remembered it was the twenty seventh and came a-running” (Jackson 2). Tessie has experienced the lottery before and she knows the ritual, however she justifies it because it is a tradition. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Tessie is the one who will be killed. When Tessie “wins” the lottery she screams about its unfairness, saying “It isn’t fair, it isn’t right” (Jackson 3). Tessie realizes what it feels like to be a pariah and recognizes the absurdity and unfairness of the whole situation but at that point it is too late for her. This indicates that self-justification can lead to undesirable consequences even after an attitude change.
All in all, a change of perspective can help one gain greater insight and prevent affliction. It is difficult to understand how harmful and dark, traditions and beliefs can be. That is why, one should keep an open mind and be able to put aside their own viewpoint in order to be more empathetic and sympathetic.