The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis - 1094 Words

In the piece The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, she paints a picture of this perfect world with little to no consequence. In her description of this world, we can see examples of communal characteristics that set her piece apart from most of the others that we have read. Le Guin writes that being happy from domination of others isn’t something to be proud of (138). When she wrote this, I read it as directly hinting that the lower classes are the imbecile boy that if they allow them to come up, society as they know it will fall apart (140/141). In the previous pieces we have read, rather than outright saying or giving explicit examples of how common it is for people’s societal role to affect their treatment, it has just†¦show more content†¦They come up with excuses in their own heads to justify the fact that they are torturing a child for their life to not be dirtied by others. When reading on in Le Guin’s piece, you can see a common thread that ties the townspeople to this tortured child and even a connection to how this relates today. We watch the people of Omelas living beautiful happy lives while there are plenty or resources to share with the child locked away, but he is the equivalent of modern day poverty where the people outside are middle and upper classes. (139). Regardless of how terrible we know the circumstances he’s going through are, since it doesn’t impede on our own personal joy it’s okay that he suffers. Although they once felt for this child, â€Å"Their tears of bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and accept it† (141). They used to want to help but when they realized if it wasn’t him, it would have to be someone else. If it was anyone else, it would be a person who has known freedom and will have it taken from them. In their opinion, the boy isnâ€⠄¢t even smart enough to understand the bad he is going through. He also used to fight it and cry but he gave up and became complacent with where he was. The boy can be seen as the lower classes, because he may have started fighting, but when heShow MoreRelatedThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis876 Words   |  4 Pagesof regret and confusion.† The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula K. Le Guin and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson address the theme of religious and traditional symbolism.† The Lottery† demonstrates how something that seems so perfect on the outside isn’t all that great on the inside. Symbolism shows the reader that there is a deeper message within the diction. â€Å"The Lottery† addresses the theme more successfully than â€Å"The Ones Who Walked Away from the Omelas† with the greater use of religiousRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis1146 Words   |  5 PagesThe role of the individual in a society is marked by the prevailing ideologies as well as political, economic, and social constructs. Ursula Le Guin’s â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,† opens with an idyllic city where all the restrictions are thrown away to enable people to live joyfully. The narrator discovers that the society does not obey the prescribed laws and regulations celebrating the festival of summer near a shimmering sea. Soon it becomes known that a poor little child becomes theRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis1032 Words   |  5 Pagesperfect world for it’s citizens. Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story,  "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,† is an outstanding piece of literature that talked about a unbelievably perfect society which people’s happiness depends on a child’s misery. When it comes to the topic about the morality of whether the suffering of a child is worth the happiness of many people, most people will readily agree that it isn’t morally permissible that one person is humiliated and tortured for the sake of the people’s happinessRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis1266 Words   |  6 Pagesbadness of the consequences (Smart, 2006). The short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas provides an account of a fictional utopia built upon the suffering of a single child, and is often used to explore the ideas of Utilitarianism. The story probes the idea of Utilitarianism and sheds light on both positive and negative implications. The author begs the reader to make his own decision regarding the fictional dilemma, and in doin g so one can’t help but think about the non-fictional world we liveRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis706 Words   |  3 Pagesdiscussion to articulate our understanding of a repressive ideology, and express its meaning with our own words. Therefore, the scene I chose from the story â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas† is: â€Å"For instance, how about technology? I think that there would be no cars or helicopters in and above the streets; this follows from the fact that the people of Omelas are happy people. Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what isRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis718 Words   |  3 Pages In The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, the writer has left it up to the reader interpretation of the townspeoples actions.There are those who, upon learning the tragic reality of what goes on in Omelas simply cannot handle what they know to be true and refuse to accept it so they leave never to return again. But the most disturbing group of people are those who see what is happening and do absolutely nothing. We will talk about this town, but most importantly, what is it that could be happeningRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis1050 Words   |  5 PagesCould one give a justificat ion for making an innocent individual suffer just to preserve the happiness of the greater good? In the story â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula Le Guin, the life of a young child is ignored and imprisoned in order to make others happy. This specific situation in Omelas can be approached in one or two ways, including either the deontological view or the utilitarianism view. However, the proper ethical dilemma relating to the city of Omelas would be the deontologicalRead MoreThe Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis1158 Words   |  5 PagesThe Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin is a story about the Omelas, which is a utopian society located near a beautiful and shimmering sea. The story begins with the Omelas celebrating the summer festival, which is an annual event involving games and horse riding. This paper is going to address and explain the use of setting and atmosphere, symbolism and point of view in the novel. The use of setting and atmosphere, symbolism, and point of viewRead MoreAnalysis Of The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas1762 Words   |  8 Pagesexceptional literary work, the job of film makers gets easier. In this case, such a piece comes in the form of Hugo Award winner â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,† a short story written by Ursula K. Le Guin, who was inspired by Philosopher William James’s quote: â€Å"One could not accept a happiness shared with millions if the condition of that happiness were the suffering of one lonely soul† (James, 330). Full of hi dden meanings and contradictory feelings, this narrative possesses the qualities to captivateRead MoreLiterary Analysis: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Essay2374 Words   |  10 Pages 1 May 2012 Deceit of the Utopia: Analysis of â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula K. LeGuin What is one to make of the city of Omelas? It is a fantastical place so transcendental that the author herself struggles to properly detail its majesty. Omelas has everything— it is beautiful, technologically advanced, and bears no need for organized religion. The atmosphere is rich with music, festivities, and orgies. And even with all this excessive indulgence, the people manage