Similarities Between The Lottery And The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas

In Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery and Ursula LeGuin’s The Ones Who Walk Way Away From Omelas”, there is a society that is considered to be a Utopian society that takes extremes to make things easier for themselves. Despite the slight contrasts in Jackson and LeGuin's works, both authors have a common theme throughout their stories: The Power Of Sacrifice Although the power of sacrifice is the main theme, the main effects of the power of sacrifice are just as important. Guilt, one of the main effects of the theme, is an underlying tone in both short stories. In the story The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas, a small child is taken from his home and forced to handle all of the sorrow, pain, and hatred from the citizens so that they may live better lives. Many citizens leave because of the guilt of knowing about the tortured child. Although this is not the case in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. In the story The Lottery, a small town gathers on a day known as The Lottery. Despite the happy tone that the lottery may give it is anything but joyful. When a person wins the lottery they are stoned by the entire town until dead. This is supposed to insure a heavy crop come harvest time. A wife and mother of 3 is chosen for the lottery and is …show more content…
By moral standing I mean after the sacrifice is made how that person or persons morals are affected. For example, in The Lottery the moral standing is nearly non existent. Despite just killing their friend, neighbor, mother and wife the village goes on about their day as if nothing had happened. This is not exactly the case in The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas, in LeGuin’s short story many citizens feel guilt and a corruption of their morals. Because of such corruption those who feel guilt and remorse leave the “ perfect” society in search something that may perhaps help the small child or that can help them shake the feeling of knowing just how perfect Omelas really