Review Of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K LeGuin

For this week’s post I will be reviewing “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K LeGuin. Something I found very interesting about this piece is that the narrator who explains the culture of Omela describes it with a philosophical nature. However, in my own personal opinion this leads the narrator to repeat themselves many times to really “drive the point home” which I found somewhat unnecessary and exhausting. There were multiple times where I thought to myself “okay get on with it”, which is not something you as the author want your audience to think. The narrator mentions that the people of Omelas are “happy” four times within the first few paragraphs, yet they don’t show us that they are happy. Only insisting time and time again that they are. The author does a lot of telling in this story, telling us they are happy, intelligent, not naive. Everything is said within this story and rarely ever shown. Perhaps that’s intentional, but it makes for a very boring read for the first half of this story. 

We don’t see the conflict of this story until about halfway through. In the basement of a public building locked in a closet is a child who is forced to suffer in solitude. They are locked away and only given trace amounts of water and food once a day. “The terms are strict and absolute; there may not even be a kind word spoken to the child” (LeGui). All of Omelas is convinced that all their good fortune and happiness depend on this child's suffering. Anyone can go and see the child to witness their suffering, but no one will let them out or help them. No one is allowed to speak to them. The people of Omelas are convinced that they are better than this child and that the suffering of one is worth it to ensure the pleasure of thousands. Yet they have no evidence that their happiness is reliant on the child's abuse. Those who cannot bear the child’s suffering chose to walk away from Omelas.

What makes this story stand out is the people of Omelas’ horror as they witness the child for the first time. It is not just one person who is aware of the suffering child. Every single person in the city, thousands of people are aware of it and refuse to do a thing about it. The ones who object have no choice but to leave. Even if they took the child, would the people of Omelas just choose another unfortunate soul to spend their life suffering? After all, it is their fundamental belief that someone must suffer. The idea is so ingrained in their society that they not only believe the child must suffer, but that their happiness no longer matters as they surely can’t experience such a thing after the torment they have endured. “It is too degraded and imbecile to know any real joy. It has been afraid too long ever to be free of fear. Its habits are too uncouth for it to respond to humane treatment. Indeed, after so long it would probably be wretched without walls about it to protect it, and darkness for its eyes, and its own excrement to sit in” (LeGui). The absolute cruelty accepted by the city of thousands is absurd, yet not completely unrealistic. 

So why was this story written? The message is clear; happiness can’t be bought at the expense of someone else's suffering. Those who walk away reject the idea that someone else's well being will deter their own personal happiness. Once we realize that this child is forced to suffer by the hands of the people of Omelas, it makes the citizens of Omelas seem cruel and despicable despite how happy they are. For how could they be so happy knowing that someone is suffering on their behalf? It’s selfish, it’s cruel, and it’s wrong. The story intends to make us question these facts, but those who leave Omelas know it to be true. 

The thing I find interesting about this story is that there are many real world examples that we can draw parallel to this tale. For instance; nearly every chocolate company including Mars, Nestle, and Hershey use child slave labor to harvest their product. Yet even I myself enjoy chocolate. The very clothes on our back are imported from foreign countries, made by those with terrible working conditions who suffer to make our products for next to no payment. Yet I have to dress myself somehow. Whether these crimes are overlooked because of convenience similar to Omelas is questionable. In my own personal opinion, we have reached a state of capitalism and greed that no one person can fight without uprooting their entire life and walking away from Omelas. In this day and age, the only surefire way to guarantee that we are not living a life based on the suffering of another is to form a small community absent of large government where we produce all our own food, textiles, and needs. That way we know where all of our products came from because we made them ourselves. Yet as a society we have grown past this idea and to return now would be nearly impossible. Unless any of my readers are eager to become amish. Though, isn’t that the point of the story? 

Overall, I would not suggest this story as a good read due to the way the story is told. Though I do believe it should be read to fully understand the nature of convenience vs moral righteousness. The concept of this story is very unique and I understand that the narrator is meant to sound whimsical and perhaps philosophical as he describes the events within this story. It does get significantly more interesting once the child is introduced. However, the narrator takes way too long to introduce the conflict and the way it is written is extremely unsatisfying. We are told of all the details regarding the citizens of Omelas within this story, yet no rising action, falling action, or change occurs within it. Leaving me with the feeling that I wasted my time reading a story where nothing happens, despite how thought provoking the themes may be. Perhaps that is the point. After all, even those who walked away couldn’t stop the people of Omelas from continuing to harm. People will continue to walk away from Omelas, yet the child is not freed and no resolution is found. 

LeGuin, Ursula K. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, 1973, 

shsdavisapes.pbworks.com/f/Omelas.pdf.