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In literature, tradition can be seen as the driving force for an idea or a question that the author feels the reader has to know. The theme of tradition can raise hypothetical queries about the validity of these practices. This theme and the questions asked regarding it can be seen in two of the most influential short stories in literature, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. Both short stories encompass beautiful and utopic towns and cities where life is seemingly perfect. The narrators soon reveal that everything is not as it seems, as the rituals and beliefs of the townspeople show to be cruel. Their common theme of tradition is divulged in the terrible secret of Le Guin’s beaten and confined child hidden away from society, as well as the stoning of the unlucky winner of the lottery from Jackson. These immoral acts are rationalized by the people of these two places because of the belief that if the lottery is not continued, their crops will die, and if the child is no longer suffering, the people of Omelas cannot be happy. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” explore the treatment of their shared theme of tradition through their form and literary elements.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, tradition is defined as “a belief, principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, or all of these beliefs, etc. in a particular society or group” (Cambridge). Shirley Jackson and Ursula K. Le Guin’s short stories both take this definition of tradition and transform it into the theme that rules over the people of Omelas and the town in “The Lottery”. In the two different societies of these stories, the authors utilize tradition to show how tradition can take hold and not necessarily be the best for the communities. Paired with the literary devices of narration and symbolism, they aim to take tradition and turn it on its head as the “shock” of what the individuals believe and act upon is not expected.
The use of narration supports the theme of tradition as it relies on the unanswered questions in the short story. Le Guin uses the narrator to treat the confined child as a practice that has to be continued. With the revelation of the tortured child, the narrator attempts to show the reader that no place, or even idea, can truly be perfect. There will always be a sacrifice made, and it is shown to the people of Omelas at a young age to establish that they cannot live a happy life without this child. The drastic change from the description of the wondrous and ideal utopia to the tradition of the child locked away can bring up the questions that come along with ritualistic beliefs. The narrator breaks from these descriptions to ask “Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing” (Le Guin 3). This sentence, where the horrors of this poor child’s life are revealed, is placed to bring the theme of tradition into the light. Le Guin’s use of this theme is used in a way that introduces the questioning of morality.
The ritualistic abuse shown raises questions for some people in the town, but the sort of mob mentality that comes with the tradition stops them from actually helping the child. In an article detailing the idea of utopianism in “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, Gabriel Mamola sets forth the idea that the tradition is reliant on the narrator’s narrative and writes “the pivotal moment where the contract is introduced into the story and the city as contingent on the narrator’s rhetorical question” (Mamola 158). Without the narrator’s support and push to slash the idea of the perfect utopia, this idea of tradition would not be as profound. The previous description of the perfect city where beautiful music is played and guilt does not exist shows that the people who know of this tortured child are content with the trade of tradition for happiness. Le Guin’s treatment of this theme extends to the reader through morality and the narrator’s control of the story.
Similar to Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and its theme of tradition is unexpected as the narration leaves the reader unknowing of the horrors to follow. The foundation built by Jackson’s narrator gives the theme a pedestal to stand upon, and unlike Le Guin, the narrator stands back from commentary. The narration of the short story is still important to the tradition in the text, as after the unlucky ‘winner’ of the lottery is chosen, the narrator gives context into how the townspeople proceed. By using the third person narrative to show the gruesome horror of this tradition, Jackson writes “although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready; there were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper that had come out of the box” (Jackson). Jackson’s use of the tradition of sacrificing a townsperson to continue having a good year of crops is meant to bring questions about why society continues with the beliefs or rituals that it does. Through the omniscient narrator, what is important to these people is established. To remain prosperous with their crops, which may be superstitious, the town willingly chooses to murder a person even after mentioning other towns were successful in ending the lottery. This is not something they have to do, but the tradition is carried on because they believe that it is what is right.
Jackson’s thematic choice of the ritualistic stoning in “The Lottery” completely shocks the reader. Elements like the foreshadowing of the children gathering the stones may not be recognized until after the short story is read, but contribute to the impact. In the article “The Lottery”: Symbolic Tour De Force”, Helen Nebeker notes that “This narrative level produces immediate emotional impact. Only after that initial shock do disturbing questions and nuances begin to assert themselves” (Nebeker 101-102). Jackson chose to leave the reader in the dark for most of the short story, and the theme of tradition is only taken lightly until the end because of this. This twist given to the reader that they are sacrificing a person and not drawing names to win a prize is unexpected, and this horrific ritual can be seen to symbolize many different aspects of the world.
Both “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “The Lottery” stand to symbolize tradition in an idealistic world. Both authors explore the use of symbolism when looking at their treatment of the theme of tradition, but defying this tradition is something only Le Guin does. Indicative in the title of Le Guin’s short story, few people of Omelas do leave after finding out about the tortured child. They decide to ignore tradition and leave behind what everyone in Omelas believes. At the end of the short story, after describing why the people leave, she writes “They go on. They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness” (Le Guin). Her use of symbolism of this unknown place, showing the defiance or morality of the ones who denounce the ritual, is supportive of her theme. This ending also brings about the difficulty of abandoning something that the whole city is fine living with. Barbara Bennett’s article discussing Le Guin’s short story mentions, ‘The answer of where to go and what to do is a mystery of individual action; the only sure thing is that it will be difficult, symbolized by the mountains in the distance” (Bennett 67). The symbolism of the difficult journey ahead for those who walk away is juxtaposed with the whole city accepting happiness in exchange for someone else’s suffering because of tradition. The way the author integrates the theme into “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is important to how Americans can respond to the sacrificed child.
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