“The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” are both stories that share one pivotal theme, sacrifice. “The Lottery” follows a town that blindly follows tradition and sacrifices one of their own every year believing it will bring them good harvest. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” follows a similar path in that the citizens of Omela’s happiness draws from the suffering of one small child, residing underneath the city. While the motivations in both stories are slightly different, overall they want to believe the sacrifice is for the greater good. Setting, symbolism, and the theme of morality are just a few of the many similarities evident in the short stories. At first blush, the city of Omelas and the town in “The Lottery” might seem like perfect examples of Utopian societies. Each tale begins detailing the beauty of
…show more content…
To start, the black box in “The Lottery” symbolizes tradition and the unwillingness to let go. The box is described as shabby, faded, and with many splinters. It is also said that the current box is is made with parts of the box that started the tradition. “Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done.” (Jackson 250). This shows that even though the town is capable of making a new box, they are unwilling to do so because it has “always been that way”, much like the lottery itself. Many other surrounding towns have retired the lottery tradition, but this town is unable to. The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” might come to one’s mind whilst reading the story, as this is probably the towns mentality. Children often symbolize many things like happiness, innocence, and lastly the future. The city of Omelas has none of these qualities, at least for the city’s best kept secret. “It is so thin there are no calves to its legs; its belly protrudes; it lives on a half-bowl of corn
To start, the black box in “The Lottery” symbolizes tradition and the unwillingness to let go. The box is described as shabby, faded, and with many splinters. It is also said that the current box is is made with parts of the box that started the tradition. “Mr. Summers began talking again about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done.” (Jackson 250). This shows that even though the town is capable of making a new box, they are unwilling to do so because it has “always been that way”, much like the lottery itself. Many other surrounding towns have retired the lottery tradition, but this town is unable to. The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” might come to one’s mind whilst reading the story, as this is probably the towns mentality. Children often symbolize many things like happiness, innocence, and lastly the future. The city of Omelas has none of these qualities, at least for the city’s best kept secret. “It is so thin there are no calves to its legs; its belly protrudes; it lives on a half-bowl of corn