In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” the city of Omelas seems to be a perfect place where all the people are happy. However, halfway through the story we learn that this “perfect” place only exists because of the child who is locked away and abused. Everyone knows that the child is there, and parents usually tell their children about it when they are between the ages of 8 and 12. When they are told about this, many young people want to do something for the child, but are told that they can’t because that would ruin the entire existence of Omelas. I think that this story is a good example of groupthink. People in Omelas accept that this one child will have a horrible life because they are taught to believe that it is for the good of everyone else. When anyone wants to do something for this child, they are told that letting the child out would actually be making their life worse, which is another way that the group justifies its actions.
In “The Lottery,” the village draws a name from a lottery on June 27 each year, and whoever’s name they draw will be stoned to death. Everyone in the village accepts this as a tradition and shuts down any criticism of it. When someone mentions that several other villages nearby have ended the practice of the lottery, Old Man Warner calls these villages a “pack of crazy fools” who are giving the young people too much influence. Once Tessie’s name is drawn, she protests, but the people in the village still go through with stoning her to death. Reading this story, I noticed a lot of similarities to the Hunger Games books/movies. I also thought that this story was a good illustration of groupthink. Because this event is so public and a long-standing tradition, no one wants to be the first person to question it no matter how many people are uncomfortable with it.
I agree, I thought that in the Omelas story the entire city used the extreme happiness and how they can live without rules to justify what they are doing to this hopeless young child. This is a very obvious case of groupthink to me because some people see the child and are so upset about it they have to leave, and everyone knows this. People in the city ignore the fact that their entire “perfect” reality is based and rooted in the suffering of someone else.
I like how you made Omelas and example of groupthink. When the people find out about the child at the ages 8-12 and proceed to go see the child they are disgusted and know that it is wrong. However, because everyone else is happy and doesn’t do anything to change it, people just decide to leave things hoe they are.