In her short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," Ursula K. Le Guin begins by painting a detailed picture of the perfect city of Omelas. She even goes as far as to state that "Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time" (Le Guin 897). The description of the city makes perfect seem boring, in that something that perfect has nothing interesting about it, it is just perfect. Her main theme throughout the story is that your moral reasoning is tested when you discover that the reason for all the good around you is because another is suffering immensely. That when you discover this a paradox comes forth that if you help the one suffering for your happiness then everyone's happiness is lost as well. Is the well-being of the many more important than the welfare of one?.
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" is a story about the city of Omelas in which the "Festival of Summer" is about to begin and the people of the city are all gathering to celebrate. (Le Guin 896). Omelas is described by Le Guin as a "city in a fairy tale," and that the reader might not be able to picture such a perfect city where everyone is happy (Le Guin 897). While the children of Omelas are in fact happy the adults were not. Le Guin writes about the adults as "mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched" (Le Guin 897). The reason that the naive and happy children are still innocent is because they have not reached the age in which they are made aware of why Omelas is so prosperous. Being that the entire city's happiness and well-being is because of the suffering of a single child kept in a broom closet in a dark basement (Le Guin 899). The children then get a chance to go and see this child and it is said it is "often the young people go home in tears, or in a tearless rage," and they have "faced this terrible paradox" (Le Guin 900).
"The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas" is an interesting story, since the author Ursula K. ... She throws a challenge onto us, whether we chose to walk away from Omelas, or do we stay in the city of joy and happiness? Will we throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one? ... Ursula K. Le Guin is simply throwing her question on to us....
At first glance the stories of "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" By Ursula K. Le Guin Seem to have many differences. ... While in " .Omelas" people who don't agree with the neglect of the sacrificial child leave the town and don't come back ,"At times one of those adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact go home at all" "They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness and they do not come back". ( Omelas,Le Guin-1267). Even with their differences you can now see how the stori...
Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" displays an excellent and intriguingly ironic plot throughout the course of the story. ... The ones who witness this secret walk away, and the ones who know about it continue to live in their perfect world. ... "But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas." ... On top of that, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" leaves us with a thought that we can apply to our society at the present moment. ...
The Dystopia of Omelas "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas- is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin. ... Le Guin uses irony to show a utopian society can not exist. ... No one is happy in Omelas. ... The ones who realize Omelas is not a magical city leave: the children, the older man or woman, they all walk down the street alone. ...
In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and "The Lottery", we find many examples of both conformity and rebellion taking place. ... In "Omelas", by Ursula K. Le Guin, an idea of a perfect place is presented. ... Some people do walk away from the community, no doubt from the effects this has on their consciousness, but no one chooses to do anything to help this child. ... The one who picks the paper in this story was Tessie Hutchinson. ...
