The ones who walk away from omelas themes

Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this childвЂ™s abominable misery.вЂќДЄnd so this is Omelas. It is fed once a day and occasionally the locked door to its prison is opened and eyes peer at it briefly before it is locked away again, with no concept of time or reason. But, brutally, remembers love from its past and doesnвЂ™t know why it was taken away. In a cellar of one of the buildings is incarcerated a 10 year old child. The cost of the utopia is known by all, and must be borne by all - but borne most egregiously by one person in particular.

As such the world the story unfolds in is somehow ours - and we must take responsibility for whatвЂ™s going to be revealed in it. If an orgy would help, donвЂ™t hesitate.вЂќДЄs a reader weвЂ™re asked to build this utopia to whatever definition of utopia we currently hold. вЂњI fear that Omelas so far strikes some of you as goody-goody. ItвЂ™s not a puritanical place though - one of the funniest lines IвЂ™ve seen in a story puts paid to that:

There are people at work, people celebrating, lives being enjoyed as some sort of festival was being prepared. Omelas is briefly painted for us as a beautiful, picturesque, timeless utopia set nowhere in particular.

Discussed on the podcast Very Bad Wizards a while back, this is an uncomfortable short story with indirect but clear parallels to the world today.ДЄfter reading the story, I do recommend that you listen to the discussion on the podcast since this addresses a lot of the talking points it raises.

The ones who walk away from omelas themes