Post 5
In the fictional story ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’, the residents of the imaginary city of Omela. The people in Omela appear to have happy and full lives. According to the narrator, they are not simple folk, but they are happy. Although the narrator admits to not knowing everything there is to know about Omelas' laws and rules, they believe there are only a few. Basically, the Author describes a place that is perfect, maybe to perfect. After describing how wonderful everything is the narrator mentions one final detail: "in a basement under one of the ‘beautiful public buildings’ of the city, or perhaps in a cellar somewhere in a private house, there is a child of nearly ten years old, though they look around six years old, so malnourished and stunted are they." The child is confined to a single chamber, where they are forced to live in their own filth. The child is occasionally given just enough food to keep it alive, but it is never allowed to leave its jail cell.
Ursala's intentions in writing may have been to force readers to face this moral test. Would you choose to either conform like the rest of the town people and do nothing, or would you choose to stand up for what is right and try to save the child?
Well, yes I do agree about Le Guin's intentions because it is definitely a moral test. Most of the citizens in Omelas lacked compassion because they chose to stay there despite knowing the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it also speaks something about the morality of most people. You would not only have to be righteous yourself, but also stand up against other peoples immorality.
ReplyDeleteAs much as we wish no one would allow a child to suffer like this, many would for their own benefit. I could personally never allow a child to suffer. I would not feel right doing so. But this is the reality that we face; many people would allow someone (even a child) to suffer so that they may live a happy life.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post. It shows the facts stated in the story and how terrible the people that were not bothered by the sad sob of the child not being cared for.
ReplyDeleteAh I hadn't thought of it as a self-reflection. That's a great point that Le Guin might have just been trying to get readers to self-reflect!
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