Social conventions sometimes are regarded as valuable treasure in some culture. But it can also lead to human tragedy. The Arti cle here tried to look into the social and religious conventions behind the human tragedy in Richard Jefferies’ short story "the Acorn Gath erer" and how those conventions and people’s belief affect the relationship between the grandmother and her grandson in the short story. The article discussed the underlying causes to the tragedy from three aspects, the outside pressure, the inner factors and the problem of the society. It attempted to explain how the social pressure influenced the attitude and action of the grandmother, how her inner belief com pelled herself to maltreat the boy and how the social convention and religious belief made the society seemingly pitiless and indifferent. It is also indicated that social and religious conventions still have a lasting effect on how people think and act in today’s world.