Omelas

Professor N. Denning

English 111

September 9th, 2016

Happiness without Sadness.

How could such a perfect town have such a big flaw? “The Ones Who Walk Away From The

Omelas”, Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973, inspired by the moral and ethical ideas of the American

philosopher, William James. Le Guin also explores alternative cultures in her fiction, often

utopian ones like “Omelas.” This short story is mostly written in third person, but also has hints

of second person because the author is talking directly to the reader. It starts with horse racing

during the city’s summer festival. The story describes the city Omelas as a utopian with everyone

having a good life, being happy. The peoples happiness, however, exist because of the suffering

of a child the city keeps locked away. Some of the people have to leave the town, because they

are horrified by the fact of the child. In order for people to know what happiness is, they must

first know pain or sadness. In order for the people of Omelas to be happy, they have to have this

child to show them an example of what misery is. In “The Ones Who Walk Away From The

Omelas” symbolism, imagery, and characterization are used to show that in order for people to

know what happiness is, they must first know pain or sadness.

Symbolism is a extremely important part in “The Ones Who Walk Away From The

Omelas.” The little child is the biggest symbol. It symbolizes sin. The town dumps all their sins

to it so they can be happy. It can also be a symbol of happiness for the people of Omelas. It is the

reason for there happiness, and with out him, there would be no happiness. In paragraph eight, it

says, “…sometimes the door rattles terribly and opens, and a person, or several people, are there.

One of them may come in and kick the child to make it stand up. The others never come close,

but peer in at it with frightened, disgusted eyes.” (Page 598) The people of Omelas look at the

child as a living sin. The city’s “one...