June 27th is known to be the day of The Lottery, and no family seems to have an issue with this until the papers are drawn. The importance of tradition for this village represents a real disadvantage of groupthink, as families are willing to put themselves at risk for being stoned to death without any real recompense in return. Ironically, Tessie Hutchinson arrives late to the gathering and is the one who ends up being picked. Her own husband tells her to “shut up,” when she expresses concern about being chosen because he is embarrassed that she is opposing such a long-lasting cultural ritual.
In the city of Omelas, citizens are filled with joy and experience constant happiness at the cost of an emaciated and abused child. The child, referred to as “it,” is believed to be the root of all beauty, tenderness, and delight of the city. Le Guin describes, “to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed” (page 6). The citizens who reside in Omelas are convinced that the manipulation and neglect embedded onto the child is what provides the rest of the population with their luxurious lifestyle.
Both stories demonstrate the problematic outcomes of traditions; stoning a chosen individual and agreeing to deny the freedom of a child are ways in which groupthink cause inhumane actions to take place. In each story, a long-lasting ritual leads to mindless thinking, which happens because people are able to reason with horrific practices by using ancient traditions as justification. Having a set tradition gives characters of both stories a sense of self, security, and relief.
I agree that these are great examples of traditions gone wrong because they see these instances as something that just has to happen even if in moral and rational thought, they are very awful things that happen and nobody really seems to care enough to stay something about it because that is just how it is and I feel like it just says a lot about humans and, especially for the second story, how we are just naturally selfish in that we want ourselves to have the best.