The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Analysis

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."

In the story the people in the village refuse to make changes to the box. , Iin the narrativepassage it says “The original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost long ago, and the black box now resting on the stool had been put into use before Old Man Warner, the oldest man in town, was born. Mr.Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box.” This quote shows that the villagers didn’t want to make any advancements to the box simply because it is part of the tradition and not because of its significance. The tradition had been going on for so long that the villagers had forgotten the rituals but still did what they enjoyed.

Could one give a justification for making an innocent individual suffer just to preserve the happiness of the greater good? In the story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, the life of a young child is ignored and imprisoned in order to make others happy. This specific situation in Omelas can be approached in one or two ways, including either the deontological view or the utilitarianism view. However, the proper ethical dilemma relating to the city of Omelas would be the deontological view due to their beliefs not damaging anyone else's lives to preserve happiness to the population.

Symbols also play a crucial role in making this story. The black box represents the tradition. It is even made out of previous black boxes that have been used in the village for previous lotteries. At first, both the lottery and the black box appear rather innocent, but they both actually hold something full of malice. Additionally, both of these things have

Symbolically the battered black box represents the death that it brings to the community as well as a worn out tradition. The box is mentioned repeatedly throughout the story, which is a sign of its importance, although we are kept in the dark about its ultimate function until the very end. It is described as "…no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places [is] faded or stained." (Jackson 75). This seems to also describe the lottery itself- old, faded, and stained with the blood of all those who have died in years past. Ironically, the black box used in the story was said not to be the original box and the papers that they used were substitutes for the old wood chips. This is a sign that the tradition is so old and meaningless that it can be constantly added to or taken away from. "Mr. Summers spoke frequently to the villagers about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much tradition as was represented by the black box…[and] every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything being done" (Jackson 75). Perhaps Mr. Summers's idea symbolizes a need for a new tradition.

The shabby black box represents the tradition of the lottery. It is a major part of the village because it is breaking apart, but the villagers are still using it. However, they are renovating it to keep it from falling apart. “The black box grew shabbier each year: by now it was no longer completely black but splintered badly along one side to show the original wood color, and in some places faded or stained” (Jackson 2). The box may still be deteriorating, but the villagers are trying their hardest to keep it in shape. Gahr explains how the black box is significant to the story when she says that, “This box is a symbol for those in the town because it is one of the only connections to the origin of the lottery… the lost meanings of the tradition have in many ways made that tradition more powerful, because you can't question a tradition once it has moved beyond reason to simply the way things are done” (Gahr 1). The black box may be a symbol of evil, but the villagers are still using and renovating it because they are just blindly following a tradition.

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

From a close look at the current situation in the world - globalization is drawing more and more countries, and on the other hand, more and more are getting further from each other in terms of life level. In the story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" Ursula LeGuin reminds her readers that walking away from a problem is not a solution of it. Omelas’ well-being in some supernatural way is associated with the life of one child, who is caring a lonely existence in a dark basement. However, citizens of this city did not dare to change lives or try to come to the child with a gentle word. Otherwise, the happiness for the whole city would be over. At the same time, all the people of the city knew this child. The author raises many humanitarian questions that will influence the civilization’s future survival: will people do something about a problem or keep walking away and enjoy their happiness for someone’s suffering?

The lottery in the story was the game in which the prize was death. In reality this lottery symbolized the game of life, and how our behavior as human beings influences our choices in life and therefore our destiny. In this case the

A symbol of the lottery's ongoing legacy, the same box has been used for years. It was believed to be made from scraps of the original black box which fell apart through the course of its use. When the citizens are brought the idea that the box should be changed, the whole thing was let to pass. "Mr. Summers," the town's lottery official, "spoke frequently about making a new box, but no one liked to upset even as much as tradition as was represented by the black box." (Jackson 422) This illustrates the people are blind to the idea of even tampering with their sacred box. They have grown with the tradition and find discomfort in the idea of change. "Every year, after the lottery, Mr. Summers began talking about a new box, but every year the subject was allowed to fade off without anything's being done." (Jackson 422) With the keyword "allowed," it illustrates the people's reaction by ignorance. Every year the suggestion is made, and every year the suggestion is purposely disregarded for the sake that their tradition be unchanged. There is a sense that should the box be changed, so should the lottery and it's purpose. "Some places already quit lotteries," Mrs. Adams said. "Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said stoutly, "Pack of young fools." (Jackson 425) This illustrates the beliefs of a majority. Old Man Warner being the oldest man in the town was looked upon

The tradition known as “The Lottery” is an old one that almost every village would do, but by the time that the story is set in most of them had stopped doing the lottery already. Nobody in the village knew why they would do this tradition or what it meant at all. They would just stone people each time someone won for no particular reason except that its “The Lottery.” The black box used in the lottery itself was also not even the original one which shows you that the villagers didn't even know the real meaning to the tradition.

The lottery is a sacrifice to bring good luck in the harvest season. The text shows this on page 14 line 33-34 when the men are talking about farming before the lottery begins. This evidence supports the claim because the men may be worried about their crops and hoping they will improve

Shirley Jackson wrote the story “The Lottery” back in 1948 to show us how ridiculous it could be to blindly follow certain traditions. In this story the author uses symbolisms to warn and prepare the reader about the gruesome ending of the lottery. There are a lot of symbols in the story and the main are the items, the lottery and the character names.

The foundation of a utopian society is centered around hope more than for perfection. In the short story “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas”, the author Ursula Le Guin tells about a society whose joy is provided at the expense of a child locked away in the basement. Some citizens of Omelas are able to rationalize the need of the imprisoned child while others choose to walk away from society alone out of guilt. The greatest hope for the city of Omelas lies within keeping the young boy held in the basement because it is for the greater good of man.

In the piece The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin, she paints a picture of this perfect world with little to no consequence. In her description of this world, we can see examples of communal characteristics that set her piece apart from most of the others that we have read. Le Guin writes that being happy from domination of others isn’t something to be proud of (138). When she wrote this, I read it as directly hinting that the lower classes are the imbecile boy that if they allow them to come up, society as they know it will fall apart (140/141). In the previous pieces we have read, rather than outright saying or giving explicit examples of how common it is for people’s societal role to affect their treatment, it has just