Would I walk away from the city of Omelas? Leave the lovely city described as nearly perfect and overflowing with unadulterated joy?
My first reaction, without thinking, would likely be one leaning towards "yes". Thinking about the short narrative for a few moments longer, I would retract my answer. We could think that anyone would want to walk away from the horrible truth being hidden in a dark basement broom cupboard. No one would be able to witness the suffering child and be completely alright with it, even in the short story, the citizens were appalled by the sight of the child. They decided to sacrifice guilt to the betterment of their society, to keep it perfect. We read the piece and shake our heads in disbelief at the people of Omelas. How could they be so selfish? Why don't they see what's wrong with the suffering of the child in exchange for their happiness? How can they still be happy knowing what the cost is?
If I put myself in their situation I begin to feel a little guilty, coming to realize that I might not actually walk away. As much as I would like to think I would walk away, tear myself away from the beliefs of everyone around me, I don't know if I really would. I don't know if I would be able to leave the way of life that I was used to. I don't know if I would have the courage to leave alone, destination unknown. I don't know if I would be able to leave my family, friends, and the happiness. To leave Omelas would mean leaving utopia, leaving the happiest place on Earth, no other place would or could compare to that. Then again, I'm not sure that I would be able to stay, given that I knew the perfection was all a lie. Maybe that's why the young people of Omelas got over being disturbed; they felt like they didn't have a choice. There would be a sort of eternal misery and guilt, and guilt is unheard of in Omelas, it simply does not exist. The citizens swallow the information they are presented, whether they like it or not. They cannot stay being torn, they must choose whether to deal with the suffering child living under one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, or leave everything.
I don't know if I would have the courage to leave, to be so bothered by the injustice that I would turn my back on my own city. On the other hand, maybe the people that leave are actually cowards, they cannot deal with the reality and run away from it. This might seem more bold than cowardly, but none of them does anything to change the situation, they just leave.
I do not think anyone would be able to say what they would do until they were actually in the situation. It's unimaginable.
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts! You do a great job of describing what many of us have experienced with Le Guin's short story - after taking a minute to consider our gut reactions, we realize that we made have been a bit too hasty with our decision to 'walk away'.
You bring up a very good reason for staying in Omelas that not many students have touched on: we all have personal attachments that would be hard to leave behind - even if it walking away was the morally 'right' thing to do. I think this plays into much of Le Guin's short story. We all have our own lives and, thus, cannot feel guilty forever about the suffering child.
Can you think of any other reasons not to leave the utopia? Would it not be hypocritical to leave - based on the way we live in our North American culture?
- Patrick
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