“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a philosophical short story that deserves the public’s attention. In her work, Le Guin describes a utopian city in which all people are happy, but their happiness rests on the misery and suffering of one child. The short story is filled with vivid descriptions, metaphors, and images; however, it has a deep and frustrating meaning. Consequently, the story of Le Guin has all the features of a literary masterpiece, since the structure, techniques, and language used by the author incredibly accurately and colorfully convey a philosophical idea and prompt the reader to think.
The first and most significant element of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is its topic, which Le Guin gradually reveals throughout history. The main philosophical idea and the central thesis of history appear almost at its end since the author wanted to draw the reader into the world of the beautiful world of Omelas before revealing its secret. This story’s moral is based on a blurry and, at the same time, a specific image of an Omelas resident and a poor child locked in a damp basement. These images embody the worldwide idea that happiness is not simple, and it does not exist without suffering. For the inhabitants of Omelas, the suffering of an innocent child is the basis of their city’s happiness, and although many residents feel empathy, they cannot change anything. However, those who do not want to build their happiness on the misfortune of another leave the city, fleeing from injustice.
An important part of the plot is that Le Guin creates the perfect city, but does not describe it in detail. The author does not know about technology, political structure, or religion, but she talks about the lack of luxury and destructive things. The author also does not describe people as saints, naive, or stupid and shows that they also tend to desire physical pleasures, whether it is dancing, orgies, or perfect and fictional drugs “drooz” (Le Guin 2). Such a description avoids the emphasis on the understanding of happiness by different people and the condemnation of various forms of its manifestation.
Residents of the city do not feel guilt, which is one of the underlying messages of history. All people are aware of the suffering of the child in the basement, and many even come to look at her or him, which causes them sympathy and guilt (Le Guin 4). However, most people suppress this feeling, which becomes the basis of their happiness. Others leave Omelas in search of justice, even if it makes them less happy because they cannot accept this order of things. Emslie says that such behavior of some residents is an allegory to modern neoliberal society since many principles and practices that create beauty and good also create injustice and inequality. (363). In this idea, the author demonstrates that happiness cannot be simple, and it always carries part of the suffering.
However, the topic’s importance was conveyed by Le Guin due to her vivid descriptions and images that take the reader to the Omelas world. Every line of the story paints a sunny and joyful picture of a city where happiness and harmony reign. For this purpose, the author used many epithets and comparisons to create bright and unforgettable images. “Old people in long stiff robes,” healthy and “mud-stained young people, and even gorgeous horses with decorated manes create a world full of life (Le Guin 1). At the same time, the author also uses contrast to strengthen the effect of negative images of the monarchy, soldiers, or banks (Le Guin 1-3). The contrast between the cellar and the child’s suffering is also vivid because of Le Guin’s word choice, which makes the reader feel, see, and smell this room. “Mops, with stiff, clotted, foul-smelling heads,” dirt, darkness, excrements, festered sores, and fear – all these images bring the readers down on Earth after the happiness of the outside world (Le Guin 3). Such a contrast creates a complete picture of the real world with its miseries and joys.
Another interesting feature of both the structure and composition of the text is the rhetorical questions. The author continually appeals to readers to emphasize the incredibility of Omelas’ reality and make them participants in the events. The narrator asks, “Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No?” ( Le Guin 2). In this way, it seems that the story is built in the form of dialogue, although the narration is conducted in the first person. Another feature of the story’s structure is that the author leads the reader from joyful and hopeful images of celebration to gloomy pictures of reality disguised as a fairy tale. This smooth transition allows the reader not only to receive information but also to draw conclusions. The story does not have a clearly expressed and formulated morality or final thought, but each reader finds or does not find it himself or herself. This aspect is a feature of the philosophical story that Le Guin perfectly depicted in her work.
In conclusion, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas“ is an excellent example of a philosophical short story that combines the mastery of the author’s words and the fundamental idea. Vivid images created by an abundance of epithets and metaphors and the unusual structure of the story involving the reader in the story allowed the author to describe the complex philosophical concept of happiness. However, the final interpretation of this concept and the events of the story depend on the vision of readers and their perception of the world.
Works Cited
Emslie, Michael. “Using Allegory to Think About Youth Work in Rich Countries That Fail Some Young People.” Journal of Youth Studies, vol. 22, no. 3, 2019, pp.363-379,
Le Guin, Ursula. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. 1973. The Anarchist Library. Web.