Theme Of The Lottery And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

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“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Who walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin seem to have few differences when it comes to plot and theme.. Both stories paint a picture of a perfect society built on dark secrets of human sacrifice and tradition. From start to finish the authors follow parallel story lines.. It seems the two stories were meant to teach the reader about blind attachment to repetitive rituals and the darkness of sacrifice. The two stories start off with the same calm tone. ‘...fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” from the first line of “The Lottery” is similar to “the air of morning was so clear that the snow still crowning the Eighteen Peaks burned with white-gold fire across the miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue of the sky” in the first paragraph of “...Omelas”. The authors do this to create a more dramatic reaction to what secrets will be revealed about the villages.
Sacrifice is a major theme in “The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. The sacrifices in both short stories are actually human beings that have lived within the …show more content…

Them walking away is a statement that they see the sacrifice as unfair and they choose to remove themselves to get away from the tradition. They do not stand up and say the sacrifice is wrong, they just leave. This means that since the tradition goes back so long, citizens do not see it changing and chose what they think is easier; quietly leaving. “The Lottery” also has others making a stand against the stoning. “Over in the north village they're talking of giving up the lottery"and that "Some places have already quit the lotteries"(Jackson 5). If the traditions were to be put to a halt, it would take a long time. That is because those who disagree are put down by those in power and told their opinion is

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