The Lottery 'And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'

The fictional stories “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K LeGuin are about one person sacrificing their life for the sake of others. “The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” both reflect punishment in a conflicting way, through their setting, society, and morals.

First of all, in“The Lottery” it consist of a small farming community where they work together in a warm and joyful setting. The author, Shirley Jackson gives the example by saying, “was clear and sunny, with fresh warmth of a full-summer day”(Jackson,1). This story provides a sense of a smaller, closer community, that has poverty issues which the town has a way of resolving. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”

Both societies do not argue for justice, however they both accept the consequences of the sacrifices and move on. In “The Lottery” when Tessie is chosen to be the one who is stoned, all of a sudden she wanted to change the rules. Old Man Warner says they are a “pack of crazy fools” for thinking about giving up the sacrifice.(Jackson,4) Even her own son was given a few pebbles to stone his mother. It shows no matter who was chosen to be stoned, it was a tradition to keep it. If someone was stoned it meant that a good crop would come that season. In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” no one challenges the fact that the young child is being sacrificed for their own wellbeing. Their society is better by a whole, because the young child stands for all the poverty, sin, and unhappiness. The community stands together on doing nothing for the child “They would like to do something for the child. But there is nothing they can do.”(LeGuin,4) The only thing the society ever does is walk away. They feel it’s better to walk away from what’s happen than to help contribute to the child’s