Student Question
What do "The Lottery" and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" suggest about human nature through their central sacrifices?
Quick answer:
Although the short stories by Shirley Jackson and Ursula K. Le Guin both use the idea of scapegoats that endure horrifying suffering, their conclusions concerning human nature are different. In "The Lottery," human nature is presented as cold, brutal, and unforgiving. In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," Le Guin presents a more hopeful vision, that at least some people will reject the cruelty and abandon the society that depends on scapegoats for its well-being.
The idea of a scapegoat first appears in chapter 16: 8–10 of the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament of the Bible. In this passage, God orders Aaron, a high priest, to send a goat laden with the sins of the people of Israel out into the wilderness, presumably to perish. Eventually a scapegoat came to be known as a person or animal that is punished for the wrongdoings of others. In ancient Greece during the Festival of Thargelia, a man and woman were chosen as scapegoats. The Greek term for them was pharmakoi, from the word pharmakeia, which means sorcery but only as it applies to medicine. The couple would be fed well, marched around the city, and then either driven from the city or sacrificed. In Christian theology Jesus is presented as the ultimate scapegoat that takes away the world's sins.
In the short stories "The Lottery"...
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by Shirley Jackson and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin, the symbol of the scapegoat is central to the plots. Both involve horrific sacrifices by involuntary victims. However, the two authors focus on different aspects of human nature.
"The Lottery" tells of a village in America that every year conducts a lottery. Every adult in the community takes part. First a particular family is chosen, and then a household within that family, and then an individual family member. The person who is selected at random becomes the scapegoat for the town and is stoned to death. This presumably ensures continuing prosperity for the survivors. Jackson has someone mention in passing that some towns have discontinued their lotteries, but someone else dismisses this as foolishness. The lottery is conducted as scheduled: a woman is chosen, and then she is horrifically murdered. According to Shirley Jackson's story, human nature is unforgiving, brutal, and legalistic. People are only too happy to kill someone else to guarantee their own well-being.
Le Guin, however, tells quite a different story. She writes of a fantasy city called Omelas in which everything seems to be idyllic and almost perfect. The only flaw is that to ensure perfection for everyone else, one child has to be kept in a basement and constantly abused and tortured. At a certain age each townsperson becomes aware of the existence of the child, and most of them accept it as the way things have to be. If Le Guin had ended the story at that point, it would be similar to "The Lottery" in its conclusion about human nature. However, Le Guin takes the concept a giant step further. Notice that the title does not highlight the ones that live in Omelas but rather the ones that walk away. In this town, there are people who cannot accept that atrocities should be perpetrated upon a child to secure their own well-being. As a result, they leave the city, go off into the unknown, and never return. This causes Le Guin's perception of human nature to be much more hopeful. Most of the townspeople accept the scapegoat, but some see it as wrong and leave. It is possible that these people will eventually form a newer and better society.