It is very easy for us as Americans to have all of these luxuries and comforts, and not think about the sacrifice and hardships that are required to produce these amenities. We often have no idea where our clothes or our cars originate. We don’t realize that for our happiness and enjoyment, oftentimes, others suffer. The short stories “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” by Ursula Le Guin, and “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, both, in their own ways, center around the idea of sacrifice for what, to their fictional societies, are common things. The idea of sacrifice is exposed in a way that may open the eyes of the reader and reveal to them more of the subtle (and not-so-subtle) instances of sacrifice in their everyday life. Le Guin and Jackson’s
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To understand the idea of sacrifice in both stories, it’s to the reader’s advantage to know that both stories other social satire. They are both making comparisons to our own, modern society through the narration of their stories. In “The Lottery,” Jackson writes, “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson, 1). As the reader gains more context, they understand that the lottery is a horrible event that has been a long standing tradition in this town, and others, for quite awhile now. Jackson is satirizing modern tradition in this story showing how such an immoral thing can continue, merely because that is the way things have always been done. The lottery is the sacrifice these people make for their corn to grow. To the people in this story, their corn has always grown because of the lottery, so they see no reason to not have the lottery. Jackson might be trying to open the eyes of the reader to the immoral traditions of modern society. In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” Le Guin writes, “They all know it is
To understand the idea of sacrifice in both stories, it’s to the reader’s advantage to know that both stories other social satire. They are both making comparisons to our own, modern society through the narration of their stories. In “The Lottery,” Jackson writes, “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use even before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born” (Jackson, 1). As the reader gains more context, they understand that the lottery is a horrible event that has been a long standing tradition in this town, and others, for quite awhile now. Jackson is satirizing modern tradition in this story showing how such an immoral thing can continue, merely because that is the way things have always been done. The lottery is the sacrifice these people make for their corn to grow. To the people in this story, their corn has always grown because of the lottery, so they see no reason to not have the lottery. Jackson might be trying to open the eyes of the reader to the immoral traditions of modern society. In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” Le Guin writes, “They all know it is