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

When it comes to traditions and customs people don’t question whether it’s morally correct or not, they just blindly follow it. Those who follow traditions survive and have comfortable lives but they lose their moral code. On the other hand, those who question it sacrifice themselves to maintain their pride and dignity. However both groups of people face positive or negative consequences. Two texts that convey this theme are The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin.
In The Crucible, Miller shows how a person’s traditional beliefs have consequences and how they guide one’s actions. The traditional belief for the people of Salem is that Witches exist and that compacts with the devil are real.

The tradition of the Omelas’ people is that every year a child has to sacrifice his happiness for everyone else’s. LeGuin reveals this tradition through the use of irony. The setting begins with a joyous mood and describes how much content everyone in the city has. The city is described as a utopia for everyone. But as the story goes on the readers finds out how unscrupulous and horrific the city is. LeGuin states “they did without monarchy and slavery … without the stock exchange, the advertisement, and the secret police.”(LeGuin 1). This shows that they don’t have anything type or form of corruptions in their city. One example that shows how inhumane the people of Omelas’ are is “One may come in and kick them…” (LeGuin, 3). They keep a boy locked up and away from his parents and abuse him. Everyone else has a positive consequence while he faces a negative one. Everyone around him is contented and comfortable while he on the other had is tormented and neglected fir the rest of his

Many young children go to visit the child who is locked up and they get scared for life. LeGuin states “They feel anger, outrage, and impotence, despite all explanations. They would like to do something for the child.”(LeGuin 3). The young children still can’t grasp the fact that people can be cruel and cunning. They want to help the child but they are told that if they do it would destroy their city. The traditional believe is to sacrifice one happiness for the greater good of others. People that question the tradition are told it’s what has to be done in order to main the lifestyle they have. Another example are those who leave the city “walk ahead into the darkness, and they don’t come back.”(LeGuin 4). People who aren’t satisfied with the tradition leave because they don’t want to feel the guilt. They leave to so they don’t have to live with the guilt so that he/she may still be able to live with themselves. Those who question the tradition don’t do anything to help the kid they just help