The Things People Do To Be Happy: Having a Good Harvest in "The Lottery" and Allowing a Child to Suffer in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"
             "The Lottery," written by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a town that holds a lottery during summertime. The winner of this lottery is actually not a winner at all because he or she ends up being stoned to death by the other members of the town. The townspeople believe stoning a person will allow for a good corn harvest in the following year. "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," written by Ursula LeGuin, is a short story about a town named Omelas. Everyone has a wonderful life in this town, but their happiness is only possible because of a suffering child. The child also resides in Omelas but is very unhappy and can never be treated with anything but in a horrific manner or the town will no longer be joyous. Both stories have somewhat similar plots in that the townspeople get their happiness from someone else's misery and the tone in which Jackson and LeGuin write are also similar; however, the way in which the townspeople deal with their situations are very different in the two stories.
             The town in which Jackson's story is set holds a lottery every year on June 27th (Jackson 291). In this lottery slips of paper are chosen, one per family (Jackson 294). One family will receive a slip of paper with a black marking on it, this family must then all chose a slip of paper, and the family member that receives the slip with the black marking on it will then be stoned to death by the rest of the townspeople. The townspeople hold this lottery once a year because there
             "used to be a saying about 'Lottery in June, corn is heavy soon'" (Jackson, 297). Without the lottery, the crops will suffer and no one will have food to eat and will not make any money. By the townspeople killing this one person, whom is chosen randomly, their life will be be...