An Exodus: A Metafictional Analysis of Ursula Le Guin's, The One Who Walk Away from Omelas

People understand things differently from each other. This is because people’s experiences are distinct and their reaction to certain events that occur differs. This is why people respond differently when they are placed in the same situations. There are those who are able to face discomforts and trials, but there are also those who walk away. Ursula Le Guin’s “ The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a good example of a Metafictional text because it lacks a central or conventional plot; it is self-reflexive, it breaks the fourth wall between narrator and reader, and it questions how narrative assumptions and conventions illustrate reality. The story revolves around a place called Omelas. It is a place surrounded by mountains and is near the sea. The people there are no different from those people we see today. The citizens of Omelas are celebrating their Festival of Summer. The difference of those who live in Omelas and those that do not is that all of the people in Omelas are happy and live harmoniously with each other. It was mentioned that they had no soldiers, no monarchy and even no clergy. In the middle of the text, the readers are introduced to a child that is locked away in a room, alone, scared and deprived of its necessities. Every citizen knows that it is there and they are content with that. There are those that use this situation as a means of making themselves better people, some who cannot stand the idea of it, leave Omelas and never come back. First, the text does not follow the conventional plot. The readers are given the situation or at least a description of what Omelas looked like. It was mentioned that it was during the Festival of Summer, there was a vast of green fields, etc. However, there was a lack of focus on the citizens of Omelas themselves. Most of the descriptions about them were mere commentaries of the narrator. The only character given a spotlight was the child that stayed in a closet room