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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper discusses Ursula LeGuin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and answers the following questions about it: If everyone could enjoy complete happiness on the single condition that one human being suffer, would that happiness be worth the price? Why do some people walk away from Omelas? Why do others stay? How might those who stay rationalize the price of their happiness? What do you think you would do?
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVOmelas.rtf
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an easy task. This paper explicates the story briefly and answers the following questions about it: If everyone could enjoy complete happiness on the single condition that one human being
suffer, would that happiness be worth the price? Why do some people walk away from Omelas? Why do others stay? How might those who stay rationalize the price of their
happiness? What do you think you would do? The Story The story isnt really a story, but a parable (The ones who walk away from Omelas, 2006). There is no
dialogue, characterization or interaction to speak of. LeGuin simply describes the beautiful city of Omelas, which appears at first glance to be a utopia. She describes the citizens as joyous;
truly carefree, enjoying the Festival of Summer. They have no crime and few laws; they are free to do as they please; even the weather is benign. In short, they
have a paradise. But their paradise is deeply flawed, for the happiness of the many depends upon the misery of one: there is a child, kept locked in a broom
cupboard, never spoken to, never touched, given only enough food to sustain life but nothing more. Its life is one of abominable misery. Most importantly, all the citizens of Omelas
know the child is there, because each of them is taken to see it when they are quite young, perhaps 8-12 years of age. They cannot say, "We didnt know"
because they do know, every last one of them. Omelas then is a dystopia in the truest sense of the word: a sick society. The Questions There are many possible
interpretations of the story, including the fact that the child is a scapegoat (Scapegoat, 2006). In Christian theology, "the story of the scapegoat in Leviticus is interpreted as a symbolic
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