Untitled Essay, Research Paper
The differences between “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Who
Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin seem relatively minor when compared
to the striking similarities they contain in setting, symbols, and theme.
Each of the stories begin with a description of a beautiful
summer day. “The flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly
green”(para 1) in “The Lottery” is quite comparable to “old moss-grown gardens
and under avenues of trees”(para 1) in “…Omelas.” These descriptions (along
with several others) provide positive connotations and allow the reader to
relax into what seems to be a comfortable setting in either story. Both stories
also contain a gathering of townspeople. In “…Omelas there is music, dance,
and special attire incorporated in the gathering, whereas in “The Lottery,”
the women show up “wearing faded house dresses and sweaters.” Although Le
Guin’s environment seems more festive, all the folks in both stories are
coming together for what seems to be enjoyable, even celebratory occasions.
However, I believe the major similarity lies in the fact that these many
pleasant details create a facade within each story. The reader is then left
ill-prepared when the shocking, brutally violent, ritualistic traditions
are exposed.
Children are an important focus in both stories. Jackson
makes it easy for us to imagine their “boisterous play”(para 2), and Le Guin
writes “their high calls rising like swallows’ crossing flights over the
music and the singing”(para1). I see these children being used to symbolize
perceived states of happiness in both stories. I also believe they are vital
necessities in each story because they are taught and expected to carry
traditions into the future. For instance, in “The Lottery,” “someone gave
little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles”(para 76), he is then able to participate
in the stoning of his own mother, and in “…Omelas,” the tradition “is usually
explained to children when they are between eight and twelve”(para 10), and
of course, the victim in this tale is a child.
The fact that both authors include references to farming
may be due to the association between farming and tradition. I know many
people who believe that farming is a way of life that is handed down from
generation to generation, it is very much a tradition to them. The men in
“The Lottery” are “speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes”(para
3) and in “…Omelas,” the farmer’s market is described as nothing less than
“magnificent”(para 3). The most obvious reason for these references is that
the rituals performed in both stories are suppose to have an effect on harvest.
“Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon”(para 32) in “The Lottery” used to be
a saying heard in their community. And in “…Omelas,” “the abundance of
their harvest”(para 9), along with many other things, supposedly depended
upon their performing the certain ritual.
Although the reasons for the traditions are slightly different
in each story, the rituals themselves are very much alike. Both are shocking
and both involve the sacrifice of a human being. Because the sacrifice in
“The Lottery” is chosen strictly by chance, age is not a determinant, whereas
in “…Omelas” the sacrifice is always a child. Ho
difference, when the time comes, victims in each of these tales begins pleading
for release from their inevitable doom. The child in “…Omelas” says “Please
let me out. I will be good!”(para 8), while in “The Lottery,” Tessie screams,
“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right”(para 79). In Le Guin’s story, death comes
through slow, twisted torture. The naked child sacrifice is locked in a dark
cellar room, fed only a small portion of cornmeal and grease once a day,
and is allowed no desirable human contact or communication. In “The Lottery”
the sacrifice is simply stoned to death by the remaining community, including
friends and family, although this isn’t quite as sickening as the method
in the other story, it is horrible and wicked nonetheless.
Although it is stated in “…Omelas” that “they all understand
that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their
friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars,
the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly
weather of their skies, depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery,”(para
9) there is evidence that not all agree with it. In fact, after young people
see the victim in it’s abhorrent condition, they are described as “shocked
and sickened at the sight”(para 10), and “often the young people go home
in tears, or in a tearless rage”(para 12). In “The Lottery,” many parts of
the ritual had been altered or long forgotten by most of the people, this
fact in itself, along with a few other clues tell me that not everyone agrees
with it either. One of the characters says “seems like there’s no time at
all between lotteries anymore”(para 22), which leads me to believe that she
wishes they weren’t performed as often, or at all, and another states that
she hopes it’s not one of her friends that is chosen(para 66).
Based in part on the afore mentioned statements, I have
interpreted the themes in each story to be identical to one another. Not
only do I believe that many disagree with the practice of both rituals, I
also think that the individual feels helpless in putting a stop to them.
The actions of each community as a whole seems much greater than the sum
of its inhabitants. For example, Le Guin writes that some youngsters and
“sometimes also a man or women much older” will walk alone “straight out
of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates”(para 14). Instead of
standing up and saying they don’t believe the ritual is right, they do what
is easier for them, they just leave. In “The Lottery,” Mrs. Adams mentions
to Old Man Warner “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving
up the lottery”(para 31) and that “Some places have already quit the
lotteries”(para 33), and he replies as a defender of the ritual by referring
to the quitters as a “Pack of crazy fools” and says “There’s always been
a lottery”(para 32). Although she doesn’t say it in so many words, I find
it obvious that she feels that the ritual is outmoded and should be put to
an end. This in combination with the fact that the majority of townspeople
don’t even remember the reasons behind the ritual, has led me to the conclusion
that they only continue the process for “tradition’s sake.” Parallel in these
two stories is the fact that