Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and Ursula Le Guin's "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas" have long been considered some of the greatest short stories of the 20th century. . They have been compared and contrasted for many years due to the presence of a major common theme: happiness in a community through a single scapegoat, whether it is the same person or another of from time to time. Although we can look at the main idea of ​​the story and simply say that Jackson and Le Guin are giving us the same main message, the authors' approach to scapegoat thinking, the reactions of the fictional populations and the conclusion that we should identify in each story are quite distinct. These are the aspects that I will analyze. To begin with, you must immediately realize that these are indeed two different stories. As similar as the main ideas are, there are other things we need to consider. After a quick reading of both stories, one idea immediately comes to mind: how do people react to these atrocities, or even react as a whole? I am of course talking about the feeling of guilt, or to a certain extent, responsibility. It is not difficult to see that in the case of the inhabitants of the anonymous village which practices the lottery, guilt is very rare, but not completely non-existent. One of the instances where we realize that some citizens of the village might have doubts about the lottery is a few hours before the drawing, when Mr. Adams tells Old Man Warner "that in the village up north they talk about giving up the lottery” (Jackson 3). However, we are immediately slapped in the face by the old man, who assures us that the lottery is the only civil way to proceed since it has always been ...... middle of paper ...... do it we think about our daily activities, whether we value certain things over others. We need look no further than our clothes that could be made in countries where workers are paid 50 cents an hour to produce clothes that sell for $80, or cities in Africa that are being destroyed and the population exploited to extract diamonds or gold which our fellow citizens happily tie around their necks and wrists. But we cannot leave; we cannot escape it like the people of Omelas. It's the same situation all over the world. Works Cited Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. The New Yorker June 26, 1948. Le Guin, Ursula. “Those who stray from Omelas.” The twelve quarters of the wind: news. 1st ed. Somewhere: Harper & Row, 1975. Quotes from Vladimir Lenin. April 30 2010.