September 9, 2016 - 16:43
Throughout the use of storytelling, various authors manage to convey points with similar interpretations, even if the stories themselves are as different as they can be. Both LeGuin and Butler investigate power dynamics and identity in spaces that Pratt would consider to be a “contact zone”. As spaces of conflicting opinions and cultures collide, the characters in each of these stories must make decisions that will impact the rest of their lives. In some cases, this decision will allow them to create their own identity and in others, this decision may leave more questions than ones answered.
By using the city of Omelas as a metaphor for the world and its people, LeGuin depicts the various characters that exist and the dire consequences of their actions. With the Festival of Summer soon approaching, the city was joyous, with “mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched” (LeGuin 1). The consistent imagery of paradise feeds into the idea that this seems to be an ideal world on the surface where each character knows their place. Yet this beauty is only gilded as in the basement of one of these fabulous buildings remains a child, tortured and kept inside a dirty closet. Occasionally, there will be visitors: the violent beater who hurts the child and the bystanders who watch with disgusted eyes. This is no secret as “they all know it is there, all the people of Omelas” (LeGuin 3). Their happiness depends on the suffering of the child in the basement and with this realization, many come to terms with the suffering of one for the good of many yet on the other hand, the ones who choose to leave never come back. This conflict in the contact zone between the child and the people living in prosperity bring various situations in which the people must decide what they wish to do. This large difference in power identity creates a space where the citizens of Omelas must decide upon which path they wish to take, further cementing who they are by making such choices.
Butler tells a drastically different story, one of which deals with a contact zone of varying degrees of problematic issues as well as difficult decisions for one to make. As Gan realizes the consequences of becoming implanted by a parasitic being such as T’Gatoi, he faces decisions to make that will determine the outcome of himself and his family. The two races that live on this fictional planet create a contact zone where there is a clear power dynamic between the two species. In this space, Gan comes to realize what he wishes to do, although part of it is clouded in how he was raised. As he “had been told all [his] life that [mating] was a good and necessary thing,” he continues to live life as has been expected of him even after realizing the parasitic nature of the Tlic (7 Butler). Although he deems this very sort of relationship to be unnatural and continues to question the various aspects of the ritual, he decides to offer himself to T’Gatoi. This act of self-sacrifice on Gan’s part shapes his own identity as this decision will impact him for the rest of his life. His identity and who he is becomes further shaped as he continues to make decisions that lie according to his beliefs.
Although both these stories occur in varying scenarios, the decisions that the characters must make in each of them further their own identity through the decisions made after interacting with the contact zone. Development for each of the citizens of Omelas and Gan begins after they are each placed in a scenario out of their own comfort. When faced with a situation where they are forced to make some sort of decision, their choices begin to make paths in which they forge their own identity. Each experience they encounter creates a personalized worldview and it is up to the characters in their respective stories to decide what they will do once they reach that point.