At first glance the stories of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" By Ursula K. Le Guin Seem to have many differences. Even too many to make them seem similar, for example In "The Lottery" their sacrifice is picked every year while in " Omelas" it was one person picked when they were young and there the sacrifice for life. But even though they have their differences they also have similarities that make them seem very close to each other.
In Both Stories the people of the towns believe in human sacrifice so to speak, they believe that it keeps their town perfect, as in "The Lottery" Every year some one is picked to be the Sacrifice to keep the crops good As Old man Warner say "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" and when asked about if it were to stop he said "First thing you know we"d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns". (The Lottery, Jackson-1271) Then In " .Omelas" they have the sacrifice because "They all Understand that their happiness, the beauty on their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, and the kindly weathers of their skies depend wholly on this child's abominable misery." ( Omelas,Le Guin-1266).
Another similarity in both stories is that the people of the towns believe they have the perfect town for example in "The Lottery" two members of the town talk about another town stopping the lottery Mrs. Adams says "Some Places have already quit the Lotteries" and old Man Warner replies with "Nothing but trouble in that" (The Lottery, Jackson-1271) while in" .omelas" they talk about the towns beauty, and how "They did not use swords, or keep slaves. They were not barbarians" and then is continues with saying there were no laws and " they did without monarchy and slavery, so they also got on with out the stock exchange, the advertisement, the secret police, and the bomb".
