The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas By Ursula K. Leguin

In the book Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, World War II events are described through the experiences of two people during this time. Excerpts from both character’s own memoirs are included to get the perspective from their lives. Some events that took place throughout the book include the severe reality of the Holocaust and the effect of the Hitler Youth on young Germans. Parallel Journeys specifically portrays these events through the eyes of Helen Waterford, who was a Jewish girl, and Alfons Heck, a Hitler Youth member mesmerized by the power of Adolf Hitler.

“The immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was written by Rebecca Skloot. Rebecca was raised in the pacific North West and received a BS in biological sciences from Colorado State University and a MFA in Creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh. She ended up teaching creative writing and science journalism at the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, and the University of Memphis. Her first book “the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” won over four-teen awards including the #1 New York Times best-selling Book of 2010. Skloot spent over ten years studying, researching, and interviewing to make her dream of getting the whole story of Henrietta Lacks into a book a reality. I believe the purpose of her writing this book is to tell

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.

In Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones, the Salmon family learns that their fourteen year old daughter, Susie Salmon, has been raped and murdered. Because of this her father, Jack, sister, Lindsey, and mother, Abigail, all go through their own respective journeys in order to accept this ordeal. During this time of grievance for Susie’s family, her father, Jack, believes that the person responsible for the murder of his daughter is his neighbour, a man named George Harvey, and reports this to detective Len Fenerman. However, Len Fenerman becomes too preoccupied with his affair with Abigail to aid Jack with his suspicions. Meanwhile, Susie’s younger siblings Lindsey and Buckley, try to learn how to cope with the loss of one of their very own, without their parent’s attention to aid them. In The Lovely Bones, Susie’s father, mother, and sister, all explore the theme of grief by going on their own pathways through the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, in order to come to terms with the brutal murder of their beloved Susie.

A restructuring of religious doctrine, beliefs, and social practices during the 17th and 18th centuries in England, and in North America, infused with Calvinistic religious doctrine initiated the beginning of The Great Awakening. Following this further, according to Christine Leigh Heyrman, The First Great Awakening: Divining America,” a New Age of faith rose to counter the currents of the Age of Enlightenment. Ultimately reaffirming the view that being truly religious meant trusting the heart rather than the head, prizing feeling more than thinking, and relying on biblical revelation rather than human reason. After a while, several religious revivals sprung forth appeasing the colonists in America desire for a deep and significant personal relationship with God. Thus, this dogma spread to other denominations throughout the colonies in America (Heyrman).” As a result, The Great Awakening spread throughout the middle colonies in America by notable revivalist preachers instituting moderate Calvinistic doctrinal theology especially for the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists, and opened the door to unprecedented world societal changes.

Laura Hillenbrand is an America author of magazine articles and books. Hillenbrand was born in May 5, 1967, in Fairfax, Virginia. She has written only two books Seabiscuit a New York Times bestseller, and Unbroken, both non-fictions. She is considering one of the best American writers. Her New York Times Article, “A Sudden Illness” won the 2004 National magazine award, and she has also won twice the Eclipse Award, one of the highest journalist honor. Her most recent book Unbroken tells the inspiring story of Louie Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants.

“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is an award winning short story that takes place in a utopian society called Omelas. Omelas is described as a beautiful city next to the sparkling sea and full of intelligent and complex people. Underneath the city however there is an underfed, abused child about 10 who is locked in a dark cellar. If people were to say a nice word to the mentally ill, starved child they would lose their entire lavish and happy lifestyle. This story was published in the year 1973, and looking at the history of what was going on in

Towards the end, Le Guin explains that some people leave Omelas after seeing the child, no matter where it brings them. In the very last paragraph, it states, “At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, [they do] not, in fact, go home at all. Sometimes also a man or a woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home….[they] walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates.” (The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 736). The people who found displeasure in the system just got up and walked away, so they would not take place in it anymore. The fifth to last sentence is “They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back.” (The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 736), which tells the reader how the less selfish people will be willing to walk straight into the unknown, into the darkness, just to prove how much they truly believe something is

Visualize a world where a significant person in your life died from one’s gruesome desire, where that special someone suffered and became a victim of a cruel, mysterious murder. Was the murder itself quick or was it revolting and brutal? Susie Salmon was a victim of a crime that should not be forgiven. In the novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Susie’s past on earth affected people that took part in her life because the past was all that they had of her. Memories of or with Susie were treasured; however, they were also feared by the one who killed Susie’s future.

Having a family bond is important to the structure of society because people crave attention and the feeling of being cared for. In the novels Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Oryx and Crake by Margot Atwood, the importance of strong family ties is massively irrelevant due to the fact that the characters in each novel are given the illusion of actual feelings and relationships. Both stories show that family is not important to have a happy life. In Fahrenheit 451, the story takes place in a dystopian society where firemen instead of putting out fire, makes fire by burning books. The main character Montag is a fireman and meets a girl named Clarisse and made him start to question his life. In Oryx and Crake, the story takes place in a society where technology runs society. The main character Jimmy learns to live life the hard way and met a person named Crake who becomes the smarts of society. Jimmy and Crake met a girl named Oryx through technology and their life becomes unraveled when they graduate from college. Technology affects family ties by promoting ways to separate people away from their family.

In the novels Oryx and Crake and Frankenstein, mental health impacts the main characters and their everyday lives. Each character has been through different life changes that influence their state of mind. To more thoroughly comprehend what each character is going through, this paper analyzes the life changes that occur due to each characters’ mental state.

Every human being on the planet has a limit. Whether it be mentally, physically or emotionally, people all have a breaking a point, a place where the line must be drawn. This is a simple fact that all humans know, an instinctive knowledge that lives in the bones of humanity. But when people witness others enduring situations that would crush most people underfoot, the dirt, grit and struggle that these heroes crawl through to stay alive, it amazes everyone. That is why it is easy to understand how anyone might admire Louie Zamperini. A child rebel as stubborn as a bull turned into a war hero who survived what no one else could even fathom- Louie Zamperini is far from a weak man as described in “Unbroken”, written by Laura Hillenbrand. But there was

“War does horrible things to human beings, to societies. It brings out the best, but most often the worst, in our human nature” (Engel). Louie Zamperini, the main character in Hillenbrand's Unbroken, grew up as a young boy always up to trouble. Despite his problematic youth he grew up to become a successful Olympian runner and a high ranking officer during WWII. When during WWII, when he became a prisoner of war the lessons he learned growing up helped him prevail though the most unfavorable of others display of character, including his own. In her book, Laura Hillenbrand uses character to show the theme, war is an extreme event that can sometimes bring out the worst in individuals.

“Unbroken” is one of the most motivating stories about the resilience of a young adult bound for the Olympics when he was interrupted by World War 2. This book is a page turner and keeps the action flying at you on every page. Louie Zamperini the main character is continuously face to face with many problems meant to either take his life or destroy his resilient mindset. Although, some consider the book unbroken to be long and boring, I think it is a exciting page turner that shows the struggles faced by this talented Olympic athlete stuck in a time of war.

The Scarlet Letter (Figure 1) painted by Hugues Merle in 1861 depicts the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, an adulteress forced to wear the letter “A” upon her bosom forever, becomes an outcast from the community with her daughter, Pearl. Merle was often known for painting scenes of mothers and children. He illustrates the scene of Hester and Pearl sitting in the town square as part of her punishment. The townspeople walk by, pointing fingers and making shrewd remarks. Merle’s painting, his biography, and other renditions of the novel and painting will be later discussed.