The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Summary
The Universal Acceptance of Evil
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", published by American author Ursula K. Le Guin, is set in a city called Omelas where all of the residents appear to be happy and prosperous. However, there is one exception. In order for Omelas’ to thrive in bliss, a young child must be totally deprived of happiness. There is allegoric meaning behind this. The citizens of Omelas use this defenseless child as scapegoat to outlet of all of their pain and guilt, just as Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of mankind. This single child suffers for the benefit of the whole. This unfortunate child’s wellbeing is being violated for the happiness of the citizens of Omelas. Omelas also can represent the society that we live …show more content…
They are told that if the child is freed, “all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed” (Le Guin 325). The ones who stay, though they are disgusted and infuriated by the extreme neglect of the child, justify the way the child is being treated in order to compromise with their guilt. They convince themselves that the goodwill of one person can be spared for the goodwill of the whole. Many try to justify the fact that their happiness depends on the suffering of a child. They believe that this is the reality and they have to accept it. However, there are some people who leave Omelas forever. The people who left could not accept benefit of prosperity if it depended on the mistreating of an innocent child, yet those who left Omelas, left unnoticed and without confrontation. They do not make an attempt to save the child from its misery. They leave quietly in the night with no protest against the dark and twisted exception for the utopia of Omelas. The ones who leave represent the ones who will not accept the evil ways of our society. Although they strongly oppose it, they cannot stop evil from existing, just as they cannot save the child. They choose not to take a part of it by
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", published by American author Ursula K. Le Guin, is set in a city called Omelas where all of the residents appear to be happy and prosperous. However, there is one exception. In order for Omelas’ to thrive in bliss, a young child must be totally deprived of happiness. There is allegoric meaning behind this. The citizens of Omelas use this defenseless child as scapegoat to outlet of all of their pain and guilt, just as Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of mankind. This single child suffers for the benefit of the whole. This unfortunate child’s wellbeing is being violated for the happiness of the citizens of Omelas. Omelas also can represent the society that we live …show more content…
They are told that if the child is freed, “all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed” (Le Guin 325). The ones who stay, though they are disgusted and infuriated by the extreme neglect of the child, justify the way the child is being treated in order to compromise with their guilt. They convince themselves that the goodwill of one person can be spared for the goodwill of the whole. Many try to justify the fact that their happiness depends on the suffering of a child. They believe that this is the reality and they have to accept it. However, there are some people who leave Omelas forever. The people who left could not accept benefit of prosperity if it depended on the mistreating of an innocent child, yet those who left Omelas, left unnoticed and without confrontation. They do not make an attempt to save the child from its misery. They leave quietly in the night with no protest against the dark and twisted exception for the utopia of Omelas. The ones who leave represent the ones who will not accept the evil ways of our society. Although they strongly oppose it, they cannot stop evil from existing, just as they cannot save the child. They choose not to take a part of it by