Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Ursula K. Le Guin wrote The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, which is located on page six-hundred and ninety-six of Current Issues and Endearing Questions. The fictitious short story is written as though an anthropologist was studying the culture and people of Omelas, an almost utopian community within the story. Le Guin attempted to grasp what a universal path to happiness might be in the short story, and the most difficult obstacle that humanity faces on this journey. In her words, “Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive.” Here, Le Guin means that some aspects of ourselves, and the decisions we make, directly affect how we perceive ourselves and worthiness
In reality, this would actually be beneficial for a modern-day society on a large scale. Nevertheless, Le Guin had to use her imagination to engage her readers, and translate her message. Each member of the community is forced to face a physical representation of their guilt, shame and self-loathing head on. The physical representation of their guilt is a malnourished, neglected child locked away in the broom closet of a cellar with no light. “It is the existence of the child, and their knowledge of its existence that makes possible nobility of their architecture…” Likewise, it’s our knowledge of our own faults and other peoples faults or pains that allows us to empathize and work together. If they cannot move past the negative views they have towards themselves, they cannot accept others for every aspect of their being – both negative and positive. Those individuals are free to walk away from Omelas, but in doing so they are ultimately walking away from their personal pursuit of
It’s one of the strongest human emotions, and if left unchecked it can easily lead us down the wrong path. If we brought all of our guilt and self-loathing to the surface, and attempted to negate it we would destroy ourselves in the process. For some people the guilt they face could be from disappointing others, and for some it can be enough to disappoint themselves. Adultery, sexual orientations, addictions, body dysmorphia and a variety of other things can cause one to feel that they are no longer worthy of being treated like a human