The Lottery vs. Omelas

Both “The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” (Omelas) present scapegoatism and troubling aspects of tradition, but “The Lottery” explores those difficulties of changing habitual behavior while "Omelas" focuses more on moral decisions. Scapegoating is allowing one person to suffer so that the rest of the community can flourish. When it is done for a long time, many people tend to accept it. It becomes hard to change. We can then respect the courage of those who stand against such forces and walk away.

Both "The Lottery" and "Omelas" present examples of scapegoating. Scapegoats at one time were actual goats that were sacrificed to cleanse a society of guilt. “The Lottery” sacrifices the woman to assure a good crop and continued good fortune, and the small child in "Omelas" suffers so that the rest of the society can feel joy. Old Man Warner, in “The Lottery,”recounts,“Used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'”(595). And, in ...