The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

From the beginning of time, society has made the “moral” perspective the desired response or reaction to all situations and scenarios. The term moral means concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior, and the integrity or dishonesty of human character. To be morally sound, one must address the true meaning and purpose of morality. In the story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” citizens often leave due to the reality of their society. The ones who walk away from Omelas are cowards, not “moral” heroes of any manner. By leaving Omelas the former residents are abandoning the child to suffer in Omelas, its bitter reality, which involves no one changing the course of its life.

In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" author Ursula K. Le Guin uses the utopian society of Omelas to symbolically highlight the ugly and unsavory state of the human condition. The stories unidentified narrator paints a colorful picture of Omelas and ironically describes its residents as happy, joyous and not at all barbaric. Although Le Guin describes Omelas as a delightful even whimsical place that affords its citizens “…happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of the of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weather of their skies”; we come to discover just the opposite (5). At its core we find a

When these kids get taken away from there families they feel lost, the army commanders take advantage of this behavior. They work and train the kids to not feel compassion, they do this by tricking the kins into taking drugs then convincing them that they are there for them and that they are doing good things, such as telling them this is what their family would want for them.Ishmael Beah was a child soldier and he was rescued by the us afew years ago. According to Ishmael Beah’s interview on “CBC the hour news” he says that most people really don’t understand the things that go on in war, there are people caring their children on their back running to safety because this war was going in the middle of the cities and neighborhoods. Some of the children that they parents were carrying would get shot and they wouldn’t know. These child soldiers would be killing the children and if they weren't shooting them they would be witnessing the killings right before their eyes at ages younger than 10. Later in the same interview of Ishmael Beah by “CBC the hour news” he says that in front in the children that they recruit to go into the war, part of their training is that

Children from almost every region of the world are illegally serving in armed conflict around the world. In the last 2 years, 20 states have been reported to have child soldiers in government, government-affiliated, and non-state armed groups (“11 Facts About Child Soldiers”). Children should not be affiliated with war and should be protected from those who act otherwise because children have no understanding of life and deserve a life of freedom. Children are stripped of their youth to participate in dangerous and violent activities out of their free will, even if they were to be saved, they would still carry scars and bad habits that would prevent them from living a normal life. These children are our future generations and should be protected and well raised.

The perception of reality and morality differs from individual to individual, from community to community. The different cultures throughout the world provide breeding grounds to many different kinds of ethical values and societies. In The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the author Ursula Leguin, creates a society that may be perceived as corrupt and unfair, yet is not too different from our own. Omelas is neither a “city of happiness” nor a Utopia; it is a city of paradox, of false freedom and desperation. The people of Omelas live lives full of happiness and comfort, over a rotten foundation of an abused and abandoned child. Yet Leguin sympathizes with the ones who choose to stay in Omelas for she believes that they are helpless, stuck in the paradox of moral obligations and moral values. The Omeleans stay for they live in denial, creating a reality different from ours. To them, they either believe it is truly moral to uphold the community, with the sacrifice of one child, or they live in Omelas as an obligation, infinitely appreciative for the child sacrifice. The ones who leave however, do not want to feel obligation, to rely on this child for happiness. They want to be responsible for their own happiness. Unfortunately, similar to the Omeleans, Americans consume hundreds of pounds of meat a day; hundreds of cows, chicken and pigs brutally handled and abused for the pleasure of our taste buds.

In "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" Ursula LeGuin is raising the moral dilemma of justice vs. happiness. The happiness of the citizens in Omelas depends on the suffering of a child locked in a closet. She briefly describes the contrast between the child’s situation and the citizens’ position, portraying a moral dilemma, which is when you have to choose to do one of two equally unpleasant things.

“The one who are walking away from Omelas” is written by Ursula K. Le Guin in 1973. This story is written with the inspiration from "The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life" of William James (Brandt). The whole story is in a second person perspective, the narrator is recognized as one of the characters as well. It is recognized as a utopian literature as Omelas is described as a perfect society. Behind this perfect society, it is often had a philosophical, social or political motive behind (Literacy Device-Utopia ). The story described Omelas as an idyllic and beautiful place which was celebrating the Summer Festival. Everyone who lives there seems to be delighted and have no worries. However, the fact is all their happiness, peaceful life has depended on a miserable child who had been kept in the basement or rooftop of the house. The narration describes everything out but it does not give judgments to the moral value and allow the reader to make their own decision (Laurie). Most of them understand they could not live without the child, therefore, even though they were angry at first, they will choose to accept it when time passed.

In Ursula K. Le Guin’s writing on ‘The ones Who Walk Away From Omelas’ explains how the little child had been isolated from the people of the town while Nathaniel Hawthorne through ‘Young Goodman Brown’ illustrates Goodman Brown reactions as a result of the Devil’s actions which made him feel depressed by his own family’s actions. Been isolated from the outside world or from the truth has led to one profiting from the unruly act that is alienation. Alienation is the drastic difference between someone experiencing something that socially benefits others and someone who does not because of lack of common values or sheer discernment. Ursula K. Le Guin in her writing explores this aspect of alienation, discernment by the community members of Omelas towards the child whereas Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows how someone can benefit from alienation, in this case; the devil knew Goodman Brown was naïve about his family’s history which he was alienated from, therefore took the advantage to show him their true evil ways of living.

As previously stated, the narrator is the one who describes and foreshadows the scapegoat use of the child. The narrator described a lack of guilt in Omelas which leads to the idea of scapegoatism. Once the narrator reveals the child and the harsh conditions in which it lives, the narrator also reveals uses of the child. In fact, the narrator makes the reader aware of the scapegoat by stating, “They all know it has to be there,” (252). After the narrator explains how the people of Omelas know the child has to remain in its tortured cellar, he/she explains that their city and its beauty depends on it (252). The depiction of needing the child for the ultimate happiness of the utopia basically describes using him/her as the person to blame. Basically, the child is giving the people of Omelas someone to blame for all the minor flaws, so that they can continue their happy life. Lastly, the narrator explains the theme of ignorance being bliss when he/she describes, “Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there,” (252). Since the narrator tells the reader that not everyone goes to see the child, he/she is telling the audience that some choose to not see it. If they don’t see the child suffering then they can pretend it is not, and they can

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 short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” By Joyce Carol Oates it show: Visions of America, Sexuality, and Youth. In Visions of America it gives us a look on how some family’s live in America. People who might not be from the United States they might see the vision of a happy family with both parents and their children eating dinner at the dinner tables. However that is not how everyone who lives in America lives like. Or that if a person moves to the United States they can have their American dream of having nothing in life to tomorrow being the richest person. But it is not as easy as saying as it happening, because in fact most people’s American dream might never start. American’s families are not as perfect as what people from around the world might see it. There is problem in every family from big to small, but everyone deals with it. I believe that Connie really shows what happens back doors in an American family. Joyce Carol Oates really buts Connie as this character that many people do not see who are not from the United States, that a daughter talks and doesn’t like her mother or doesn’t have a good relationship with her father. “Connie wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. “She makes me want to throw up sometimes,” she complained to her friends. She had a high, breathless, amused voice that made everything she said sound a little forced, whether it was sincere or not.”(pg. 506) Or

Ursula Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a plotless, philosophical fiction. Written in 1973, Le Guin tells the dark narrative of a fictional town which lives in peace with itself. The seemingly happy town houses a dark secret, one so dark that citizen’s of the town leave to escape it. Ursula Le Guin does this by using authorial intrusion, withholding information, and encouraging her readers to think.

In “Invisible Child,” a New York Times article written by Andrea Elliot, we follow a day in the life of a young African American girl, Dasani, growing up in New York City. However, instead of living in an “Empire State of Mind,” Dasani lives in the slums, growing up homeless with her two drug addicted parents and seven siblings. Dasani often finds herself taking care of her siblings, making sure they have enough to eat, tying shoelaces, changing diapers, getting them to the bus stop in time, and the list goes on. An 11 year old girl, essentially taking care of a whole family, as well as taking care of herself by going to school, receiving an education, and partaking in extra-curricular activities. Elliot captures the life and struggles of a family well under the poverty line, giving us an unprecedented look into what Dasani must do each day not just to grow up in New York City, but to survive.

Therefore, their happiness is not even true happiness because it is constantly shadowed by the knowledge of the child’s suffering, and yet paradoxically, they feel morally obligated to be happy for the sake of the child. In a sense, they are so bound to the child that they do not have any more freedom than the child itself. In contrast, there are also people who are so disturbed by this dark secret of the child that they “leave Omelas...toward [a] place...that [possibly] does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going”(47). To leave Omelas for the unknown would need considerable courage, but they know that they will never be truly happy staying in Omelas. Just like how the people of Omelas know that “the joy built upon successful slaughter is not the right kind of joy,” those who leave understand that happiness at the expense of a scapegoat, such as the child, is also not the “right kind” of joy

Visualize men with guns breaking down your door and pointing them at your family. Now imagine these men taking your children, forcing them to serve in their military force. In only an instant, your children are gone and you are left with no knowledge of the fate of your kids. As terrifying and seemingly impossible as this imagined scenario may be, it is a stark reality for many families in third world countries. Where families fear not if their children will be taken but when those doors will be broken down, and their screaming children will be dragged out through the front door. The parents know that they cannot not stop these men even if they attempt to. Yet, in an unreasonable twist becoming a child soldier is not only a gamble with the reaper, but it is also a chance to survive. Enough food to survive is more or less guaranteed, while back at home the odds of surviving are insurmountably against them. Becoming a child soldier is a double edged sword that is neither ally nor enemy to the children. These children are abused and coerced into staying with the men who ripped them from their families. Those that attempt to escape or resist are torn down brutally in order to be rebuilt, while those that embrace it sacrifice their humanity and risk the onset of psychologically damaging PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Militias and rebel forces, strained on man power, turn to child soldiers as a cheap and readily available replacement source. Trained to become war hardened