Group 1 ~
Question 1: In the short story version of "The Lottery"the plot is simple, the lottery is happening and someone is going to get picked for the stoning and in the end the tradition is going to continue ; the characterization is more in depth, you see Tessie and she's joking around, she knows whats going to happen but she doesn't care until it's happening to her, then she kicks up a fuss and complains to everyone that it wasn't fair, and trying to up the numbers so she is less likely to be picked by offering her older children up to be in the drawing as well, even though they've already been cleared for the year. Tessie, feels normal heading into the drawing and is all for it, but as soon as the tables turn she hates it and feels its unfair, she's hypocritical.
Group 2 ~
Question 5: "Omelas" and "The Lottery" are both Dystopian/Utopian in nature (they can swing both ways depending on which way you look at them), they are Utopian because both civilizations are prosperous, nothing bad really happens in either town, everyone is perfectly chipper and happy, but they both ride on the destruction of another human being, thats the Dystopian element and also where they differ slightly. In "The Lottery" the "tithe" is paid directly, the town gathers and kills one of their own every year for the prosperity of the town, the good of the many. However, in "Omelas" the "tithe" is paid in a more indirect way, no one physically hurts the child by way of violence they simply neglect the child into destruction; which I suppose it could be argued that neglect is a form of violence, albeit a passive form. It's a simple question of what are you willing to do for the good of the many, meaning the good of you more often than not, versus the good of the few, or the one in these cases. The answer of most is to sit idly by and allow it to happen because you think it cannot be stopped, the other path is to fight it (which in the case of "Omelas" means to walk away from everything into the unknown because anything is better than that) the latter path is the more lonely one without a doubt.
I really like how you brought up that the "Omelas" has a more indirect way of destruction of another human being while "The Lottery" is more direct with the town being involved in the sacrificing. Do you think a lot more people would walk away from "Omelas" if they made the destruction in a more direct way? I disagree with sacrificing or hurting any mankind for the greater good but maybe I only think that way since I did not grow up in a place that the stories suggest.
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