In Omelas, there is something wrong underneath, that the entire town knows about but no one addresses. They cannot fix the problem as it would ruin the city as they know it but instead try their hardest to live on while they know about it. When it becomes too much some may leave in the middle of the night.
In the Lottery, there is a tradition that they will not go away from, as they believe that breaking away from it would be similar to returning to being barbaric. They see that the people in surrounding cities are breaking away from this system, but refuse to do that themselves.
Both of these short stories had twisted and chilling endings. Omelas began overly joyful, describing how happy the people were and how joyous the people of Omelas were there. The Lottery began describing the daily duties of the people, and the story began as normal but as it went on, there was always a singular word or phrase that made the background of the city more mysterious. I would how different or how much happiness they would actually sacrifice by saving the happiness of that one child. Or how much the city in the Lottery would change if they didn’t have the lottery system. It seems like neither of the places are truly dependent on it but they continue to hold on to it as if it did.
I think both these stories show what can happen when people blindly follow tradition and don’t speak out. The endings emphasize the dangers of this fellow ship.
I think that it’s interesting how hard people hold on to what they know. People are inherently resistant to change and it is difficult to accept that the status quo can change.