Le Guin's 'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'
Toby Weissman
Ms. Chandhok
English 9
October 9, 2017
Omelas Paragraph
In Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, the suffering of the child is accepted because of the lack of guilt in the society. In Le Guin’s hypothetical town of Omelas the citizens “are happy people” (33). They have festivals, procession, and music. The citizens feel no sadness, no regret, no guilt. As the story is in the first-person perspective of a visitor of the town, the visitor comment that “one thing [they] know there is none of in Omelas is guilt” (33). The citizens have no guilt. They don’t hide the reason for their wonderful lives, they accept it. It has been a truth that their parents and grandparents have accepted and understood. The importance
of the misery of the child “is usually explained to children when they are between eight and twelve” when the child can understand the truth (35). The children do not understand it at first, “they feel disgust”, but most come to understand it, the way their parents did (35). Although most shed their guilt and emotions about the suffering, some do not. Those are the ones who walk away. The ones who leave are the citizens who cannot overcome the guilt. They cannot justify the suffering of the child for their success. Sometimes they contemplate it in their mind for years, other times they decide in seconds. But they all “keep walking, and walking straight out of the city of Omelas” (36). All who are left are the believers, the guiltfree citizens. There is no one left to challenge their way of life, their traditions. The citizens accept the suffering because those who do not are “the ones who walk away from Omelas” (36).
Ms. Chandhok
English 9
October 9, 2017
Omelas Paragraph
In Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, the suffering of the child is accepted because of the lack of guilt in the society. In Le Guin’s hypothetical town of Omelas the citizens “are happy people” (33). They have festivals, procession, and music. The citizens feel no sadness, no regret, no guilt. As the story is in the first-person perspective of a visitor of the town, the visitor comment that “one thing [they] know there is none of in Omelas is guilt” (33). The citizens have no guilt. They don’t hide the reason for their wonderful lives, they accept it. It has been a truth that their parents and grandparents have accepted and understood. The importance
of the misery of the child “is usually explained to children when they are between eight and twelve” when the child can understand the truth (35). The children do not understand it at first, “they feel disgust”, but most come to understand it, the way their parents did (35). Although most shed their guilt and emotions about the suffering, some do not. Those are the ones who walk away. The ones who leave are the citizens who cannot overcome the guilt. They cannot justify the suffering of the child for their success. Sometimes they contemplate it in their mind for years, other times they decide in seconds. But they all “keep walking, and walking straight out of the city of Omelas” (36). All who are left are the believers, the guiltfree citizens. There is no one left to challenge their way of life, their traditions. The citizens accept the suffering because those who do not are “the ones who walk away from Omelas” (36).