Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Sacrifice

This quote is significant because it serves as an opening that we need to keep in mind throughout the text. As the article progresses, one can see that it strengthens the central idea that most people are not happy and are approaching happiness in the wrong way. This was established to give an example to the reader showing how the idea of happiness can be shared.

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" demonstrates how happiness can’t exist without moral sacrifice through its use of symbol. The child being kept alone in a locked room underneath the most beautiful building of the city is a symbol of how someone’s happiness in Omelas depends entirely on that child’s misery: "they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships…depends wholly on this child’s abominable misery" (246). This passage makes it clear that happiness can only occur if Omelas’ citizens act like they constantly forget the child’s existence and let it "live" in its constant suffering. It’s evident that this symbol illustrates the delicate relation between happiness and moral sacrifice.

In Happy by Roko Belic (a 2011 documentary), “All I want is to be happy in life” was a reoccurring statement from the people in the film. A majority of people in today’s world agree with that statement. Everyone wants to be happy, but what truly defines happiness? The Happy documentary presents different things that make certain people happy, and what influences their feelings. The film does not only imply that direct message, but also paints a bigger picture for the audience. The bigger picture being: how ecology is the main factor behind people’s happiness. The director of this film combines real experiences from people around the world along with research from scientists to explain our simple emotion, happiness.

Sacrificed the truth, beauty and the right to think, happiness and comfort is just indulgent, it is the discomfort brought by the misery, responsibility and the bonding give us the weight of life. The world is full of people who try hard to gain happiness, and we all have at least one time the idea of living in a perfect world, a world without pain, without misery, without getting old and without cancers. We always ignored the importance and the beauty of uncomfortableness, just as a quote in this book said, “Stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand”. After read this book, I started to be more objective at those bad things I used to hate, to understand the significance of art and to be grateful to this imperfect world we are

Ursula le guin's the ones who walk away from Omelas brought us an issue about happiness: could the happiness built on the suffering of the other be called as happiness? morally speaking, this utilitarianism mind-set of majority's interest over the sacrifice of individuals idea is wrong because human beings can not be evaluated like an object: the life of every individual is meaningful and it is the freedom of himself to decide his own destiny. however, in the daily practice, we find that people keep calculating the strength and weakness in order to achieve the best outcome. unfortunately, we have to reluctantly admit that life is a trade-off itself.

Happiness is a person who experience positive emotions, share and received love, someone who is always laughs and has a smile on his face. Not all the people has the pleasure of having those feelings. Can be hard in life finding happiness when people around, are not happy either in life. In the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer deals about Chris McCandless who had a long life to live but, dies in the wild pursuing his happiness. Christopher Johnson McCandless come from a wealthy family and a brilliant man with perfect grades. He had everything in life, but he was not happy at all so, he decides to leave everything behind and start on a journey. Even though he did not went into the right path to reach his happiness, at the end he died for consuming the wrong seeds to survive in the wild. Jon Krakauer identify a lot with Chris McCandless’s life that he decided to write a book about Chris’s life. Joh Krakauer applies into the book the rhetorical situation and rhetorical appeals.

To begin, in the first part of the story, a city called Omelas and its inhabitants are described as one happy community, but a negative connotation on the city and its people is implied as the story progresses.”They were not simple folk, you see… How can I tell you about the people of Omelas? They were not naive and happy children- though they were, in fact happy” (242-243). This passage implies that the people of Omelas, including children, are not so innocent by saying they were not naive, suggesting the idea that their morality is in fact, stained. The fact that the author also commented on the people of Omelas as “not simple folk” gives the story a mysterious feel. The negative connotation is also evident in this passage, simply because of how the author worded this quote. Still, just how bad is the morality of the people of Omelas? This question is answered by the text as it continues.

To be happy, one must take the happiness of others. That’s just how it works, right? In most cases, joy is brought by other’s despair. Author Ursula K. Le Guin took this into a more literal level, in her short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Le Guin tells a story about a town of fueling all of it’s happiness through one child who must suffer.

The townspeople were grateful and relieved to have the children back in their lives because they truly believed they had lost them forever. I would have reacted the same way as the village because losing something you care deeply about has a major effect on your life. Twain’s descriptive detail helped me imagine the town’s emotions. The emotions expressed in this passage remind me of many television dramas where the child goes missing and is found without any physical harm done to them. I’m certain the children will never truly understand the worry they had caused. All of the children should have been more considerate and thought about the consequences they would face in the future. This passage shows me that the town cares for the children

Everyone defines happiness differently, but everyone needs happiness. The book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse talks about how Siddhartha finds happiness through many ways. He leaves home and his friend, Govinda, to find enlightenment. He starves himself, he learns love, he even thinks of suicide… Fortunately, he meets a ferryman, who becomes his best friend, also his “teacher”, and helps him find the ultimate way to achieve enlightenment. Siddhartha abandons his relationships, money, and education which bring him happiness, and in the twenty first century, these still bring happiness as the essential steps to take.

Initially, Mahfouz presents the happiness as something positive; something that the protagonist actually wants. He explains that it is short and foreshadows its end: “Oh no, this must be just a fleeting mood which could never be permanent. For if it lasted forever, man would become an angel and reach the world beyond.” This implies that human happiness is both rare and brief. If it were any other way, as it happens with the protagonist, people would not be people at all. This again demonstrates the scarcity of human happiness, as the implication is that no one is really happy. Even with successes and possessions, man is usually unhappy, much like the protagonist. In fact, the protagonist's servant puts this into perspective. He explains happiness is imperfect and that "this is the nature of life." Indeed, even when the novelty of happiness does occur, it is not perfect, and also not completely sought.

“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace. (- Chuck Palahniuk) There are times in which people feel ecstatic or overjoyed for some reason. We may ask them why but their answer would probably be “because I’m happy”. People might not think about it but we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to be happy. In Macbeth his happiness was to have the throne of his cousin while in Federigo’s Falcon it was to have the woman he loved by his side. In the video, The Science of Happiness, gratitude is what makes us as humans truly happy.

The people of Omelas are materialistically happy but are morally unhappy. The narrator implies that happiness is knowing the differences between what are needs, desires, and detriments to a person. Every person alive has basic needs which are deemed necessary, such as sustenance and shelter. All honest humans will admit that they have wants and desires that are not necessary, and many push the limits to attain them. And always there are those who are willing to allow the suffering of others to achieve their own desires. The adults of Omelas are not using just discrimination, and because of their immorality, are not happy.

Now happiness, more than anything else, seems complete without qualification. For we always choose it because of itself, never because of something else. Honor, pleasure, understanding, and every virtue

In the poem, “Happiness Is Not Comforts” by Dr. John Celes, it states “Happiness is in making and seeing the less fortunate ones, smile.” This can tell us that happiness isn’t just about personal desire but also about others around you. Happiness is nothing when everyone is sad around you. This poem also shows how sharing with others gives the feeling. The same characteristic are explained in all three pieces described. This poem answers the question by explaining that happiness is caused not by what you surround yourself by who you surround yourself with. It attempts to tell us that comforts are just empty feelings that fade quickly. But things like giving to others, showing love and compassion towards other, and going out of your way to do little things for someone is what gives a full happiness.