'The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'

The first instance that symbolism occurs is when the author uses Gaston, a bug that is found in a peach, who describes the father. “What’s he saying?” asks the daughter. The father replies “Well he’s a little confused. Now inside that house of his he had everything in order.” This excerpt from the story illustrates that Gaston is used to symbolize the father, and that he had his life all together, and now it has fallen apart. Another instance of symbolism occurs when the father explains “It’s where he [Gaston] used to live. Gaston is out in the world and on his own now.” The daughter then asks “He had everything, now what has he got?” The father answers with “Not very much I’m afraid.” These quotes symbolize the father is losing everything, like the bug, and does not have much money. The father takes into consideration of how he can relate to the bug. For example, he is on his own, with nobody close to him. The symbolism of the bug from the peach used in these quotes emphasizes that the father in this story does not have very much, and is lonely, yet he still can see the worthy in things. This description can relate to how he has an impact on his

Through the course of this paper the author will try to demonstrate, depicting both sides of the argument, the reasons in which a follower of John Stuart Mill 's "Utilitarianism" would disagree with the events taking place in Ursula Le Guin 's "The One 's Who Walk Away from Omelas."

The short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, written by Ursula Le Guin, is about a so-called perfect society where the sacrifice of a child is what provides harmony, equality, and prosperity to the citizens of this city. As a reader, one is invited to create and visualize their own utopia, so that one is emerged with the reality of a moral dilemma: the happiness of many for the unhappiness of one. The symbol represented in the story reflects current and past society issues such as military sacrifice, slavery, and injustice.

The story begins with a description of the husband. "He was a good husband, a good father" (Le Guin 3), "He was always gentle" (Le Guin 3). These lines create confusion, it makes the audience question. In order for the questions to be answered finalizing the story would have to be done. This foreshadows what will occur later on the story. Le Guin tells about how they first met and about how his sophistication attracted her.

To begin with, the use of symbolism creates obscurity, and causes the reader to examine the story. To further explain, the symbols also causes the reader to look deeper into the story's meaning, as it creates an interaction between the story and the reader. As a result, it enhances the effectiveness of the story. For example, a quote in the story states, “We all dancer an Owl dance, a Friendship dance, and a couple of Circle dances”(Sears 21).

Contemporary American culture is represented in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Omelas is a Utopian city which inhabits citizens who are pleased and content with their lives. It is described as happy, full of freedom and joy. However, this privilege of life comes at a price. In order for the people of Omelas to live this way, a child must be kept stowed away in a dark closet. Miserable and left to wallow in it's own filth, the citizens are told or even bear witness to the child's agony. After being exposed to the child, most of the citizens carry on with their lives, employing the cause of the child's unfortunate place in their society. Nobody knows where they go, but some do silently walk

Regardless of the fact that she does not exactly condemn the purposeful disregard for the life of the child that the people of Omelas have, the way Le Guin depicts the child and the language she uses signifies that she sees its suffering as something that is not only wrong, but almost evil. Le Guin’s writing style is akin to the way an artist would paint a picture. She

Symbolism is commonly used by authors that make short stories. Guin is a prime example of how much symbolism is used in short stories such as “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “Sur.” In both of these stories Guin uses symbolism to show hidden meanings and ideas. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” there is a perfect Utopian city, yet in this perfect city there is a child locked in a broom closet and it is never let out. A few people leave the city when they find out about the child, but most people stay. Furthermore, in “Sur” there is a group of girls that travel to the South Pole and reach it before anyone else, yet they leave no sign or marker at the South Pole. Guin’s stories are very farfetched

In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, the informally-speaking narrator depicts a cookie-cutter utopia with perpetually happy citizens that sing and dance in the music-filled streets during the Festival of Summer. However, under one of the beautiful public buildings lays a child, no older than ten years-old, who lays in its own excrement. Although the citizens know the emancipated child is there, they refuse to act upon the child’s suffering, for their happiness depends entirely on the child’s abominable misery. Through ethos, the narrator illustrates this utopian society with a casual tone and frequently asks the audience for their input. Le Guin’s fairy-tale introduction of the story establishes her credibility through her extensive knowledge and understanding of the people of Omelas. Le Guin utilizes logos through the narrator’s second person point of view which incites the audience to draw their own conclusions about the city of Omelas and question their own justifications of the child’s existence. The concept of the happiness of many relying on the necessary suffering of one forces the reader to question their own morals and their justifications for the child’s physical and mental condition. Through ethos, logos, and pathos, Le Guin presents the contrast and divide between the citizens of Omelas and the child in the cellar in order to challenge the reader’s capacity for moral self-conception.

This theme is consistent throughout the story and most evident for instance, when the narrator states that their "Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive" (2). Here Le Guin establishes the basis and justification for the peoples malicious mistreatment of this child and reveals that the “child’s abominable misery” is absolutely necessary to maintain their collective happiness (5). For this reason, this revelation is a clear parallel to present day humanity that continually justify evil misdeeds and abuses as a means to an end of ensuring their happiness without guilt or consideration for others.

The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas is a short story written by Ursula Le Guin. In her story, Le Guin creates a model Utilitarian society in which the majority of its citizens are devoid of suffering; allowing them to become an expressive, artistic population. Le Guin’s unrelenting pursuit of making the reader imagine a rich, happy and festival abundant society mushrooms and ultimately climaxes with the introduction of the outlet for all of Omelas’ avoided misfortune. Le Guin then introduces a coming of age ritual in which innocent adolescents of the city are made aware of the byproduct of their happiness. She advances with a scenario where most of these adolescents are extremely burdened at

The townspeople together celebrated the upcoming, important day that awaited them. They were all happy and lived in peace; it seemed as if the people belonged to a utopia. However, everything has its flaws. Suddenly, the dark secrets and vulgar tradition followed by people were revealed. The audience reads, hysterical, because of the hamartia that unexpectedly came forth in a story that appeared to be perfect.

Throughout human history, countless writers, philosophers, and the like have recorded their thoughts on the ideal known as freedom. In her short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” Ursula K. Le Guin tells of the fictional utopia Omelas, in which the population is kept in a state of tranquility so long as a single being is subjected to a life of eternal cruelty (545-550). While Le Guin refrains from explicitly offering her personal beliefs to her audience, she does insinuate that the “freedom” that the citizens of Omelas take pleasure in is, in actuality, not true freedom at all, but merely the illusion of it. Likewise, Nelson Mandela echoes this notion in his reflective account “Working Toward Peace” in regards to his perceived freedom as a child. Mandela goes on to relate his view that obtaining genuine freedom requires that both “the oppressed and the oppressor alike” be released from their chains.

Ursula Le Guin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” depicts a fictional utopian society that appears to be perfect at the surface level. In a place with celebration, dancing, prosperity, and equality, life would seemingly be flawless; However, the happiness of this community is based upon a scapegoat child who is neglected, abused, and confined in a dark basement. The narrator, who is a citizen of Omelas, digs beneath the surface level of the utopian society to reveal the truth of the twisted community. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is centered around one major conflict; the sacrifice of a child’s life in return for happiness. This situation alone creates internal conflicts for all the citizens of Omelas.

Symbolism in literature is used to give an entirely different meaning which is more significant and much deeper to a story using objects representing other objects and giving them a sense that is different from their literal meaning. The meaning of the symbols used to depend on the reader, and there is no universal meaning for symbols used because their purpose is inherent in the symbol itself. In both stories, the authors use symbols to give different meanings to their story.