Entry Five: Le Guin

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Le Guin (1973)

“Their tears at the bitter injustice of reality, and to accept it. Yet it is their tears and anger, the trying of their generosity and the acceptance of their helplessness, which are perhaps the true source of the splendor of their lives. Theirs is no vapid, irresponsible happiness. They know that they, like the child, are not free.”

I feel like I start off these posts with a reiteration of the same idea – each story has blown my mind in some way, and I feel they’re my new favorite story. With that, I’ll say that this is my favorite of our readings thus far. It’s unique in quite a few ways, but it manifested it’s way into my heart because of it’s base in science fiction. It doesn’t help that this story amazed me, and in the end made my blood run a little cold.

This story reads very much like a documentary, and it covers the development of a living community called Omelas. In this society, there seems to be no downfalls; no sickness, no homelessness, or any other ailments. This environment is where everyone would like to be, even though it isn’t technologically advanced. They live by simple means, but with so have a unburdened life.  Everything about this society seems positive, until it’s mentioned that there’s one person who lives unhappily, in possibly the worst way possible; closed away, in the dark, and alone.

We aren’t even given a gender for this nameless child, who is no more than twelve years old. They live in a closet, with nothing more than the darkness for company. They’ve had no interaction whatsoever, and are purposefully locked away in this closet and put on display, as an example. As a reminder.

There are many things which this poor child could be representing, but to me I believe the symbolism is quite literal. This child is everything unhappy in our world; poverty, sickness, and other shortcomings. With a future free of any negative things, one has to go to any means necessary to eliminate these flaws from the society. In the case of Omelas, they’ve improved their nation as a whole, but have let one person suffer, as a reminder as well as a lesson. It reminds me very much of a quote from Mr. Spock: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” Of course, for him, this wasn’t always true; emotions prevailed and the needs of the one seemed to outweigh the needs of the many.

The fascinating aspect of Omelas is that there are some who feel the way many modern-day citizens would. They see the inhumanity in locking an innocent child away, and because of that they leave; they walk miles and miles out of the sanctuary and to the unknown. They don’t want to live in a utopia that operates like that, even if it’s benefited them before.

It’s a sobering thought, mostly because this is eerily similar to how we live today, except there are many who live in a state of poverty, while others prosper. That’s something to think about, perhaps.