Evaluating the Values of the Sheepish Slaves: A Synthetical Analysis of “The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” in Light of Nietzsche’s Ruminations

Abstract

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Kroeber Le Guin are two stories depicting societies in which adhering to the traditionally imposed ‘scapegoating’ ritual ensures the prosperity of the majority of the population. Previous researches that analyzed the two texts, singularly or in tandem, predominantly emphasize the human capacity for evil as inherent in these communities through their traditions and some, admittedly, highlight the impact these traditions have on the individuals living in such communities. But no research has used the postulations of Friedrich Nietzsche in this regard. This paper intends to provide insight into this unexplored area by investigating the communities portrayed in the two stories, their respective traditional values and the community members in light of Nietzsche’s ‘master-slave morality.’ The purpose of this research is to find out how traditions exist in those communities, how these traditions are constituted by particular values, how these values are, in turn, enforced by these traditions, how those values correspond to the Nietzschean concepts, how the members represent different Nietzschean types, and how they respond to the aforementioned values. Thus, the theoretical framework is based on Nietzsche’s categorization of human beings into ‘master type and slave type’ categories as well as his theorization of ‘master-slave morality.’ Some definitional understanding of ‘tradition’, ‘master’ and ‘authority’ assist in this regard as well. The discourse of “The Lottery” as well as “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” has been considered in light of such theoretical and conceptual understandings to assess the dynamics of the communities they depict. This paper’s investigation of the communities & the members found in “The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” shows that – traditions existing in those societies enforce particular values & these values, in turn, sustain those traditions; some of the members, e.g. – Tessie, who protests against the stoning ritual & the ones in Omelas who show dissatisfaction with the child’s cruel treatment, can be categorized to be master types as theorized by Nietzsche and the ones to comply with the scapegoating process(es) can be categorized as slave types. This adherence by the slave types and the consequential peaceful prosperity implicates the values being discussed as Nietzschean slave values. This study further shows that the scapegoating ritual(s) is imbued with a utilitarian stipulation for the ‘greater good for the greater number’ which creates a moral judgment & this moral judgment is used by the slave types to justify their complicity in the seemingly required cruelty and by the community itself to dominate the master types, as a result of which the master types are faced with a duality of choices – to accept the traditions of their communities, or to leave.