Jesus Story I "The One's Who Walk Away from Omelas"
The Story of Jesus in “The One’s Who Walk Away from Omelas”
In Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, Le Guin gives us a psychomyth, with the central idea of a martyr, and lets us decide what the end of the story should be. She leads off taking us through a beautifully constructed utopian society, called Omelas, asking periodically, if we agree or disagree with her construction of that society. At first, Le Guin paints Omelians in a light that makes us feel this society occupies a fairytale city of noble knights, of naked playing children, and of street performers. The citizens are happy and joyous, rejoicing in the pristine eloquence of the city they created. They have no enemies, no military, no crime, and no guilt. A child appears half way into the story, and as it turns out, this child has a prominent role to play in this society. The child is a martyr and is necessary for Omelas’s economy, happiness, and existence. We can almost place a religious type figure like Jesus Christ in place of the child in this story. Like Jesus, this single child suffers for the benefit of the whole. Le Guin’s story can be related directly to the biblical story of Jesus Christ and how he suffered for our sins, how greed and money have become idols in our lives, and finally, this story relates to the biblical walk towards salvation.
First, I couldn't help but find myself constantly finding biblical ideas within this story. This story, to me, is plain and simple. The child is Christ. In order for the world to be good and happy (like we are forgiven), the child must suffer (like Christ had to die for our sins). I especially found relation when Le Guin says, "Some of them understand why the child is there and some do not." This made me really think about how some people knew that Christ was coming and was going to save us from our sins and how others had no idea who he was and even rejected Him. Although, after Christ's death, it was hard for
In Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, Le Guin gives us a psychomyth, with the central idea of a martyr, and lets us decide what the end of the story should be. She leads off taking us through a beautifully constructed utopian society, called Omelas, asking periodically, if we agree or disagree with her construction of that society. At first, Le Guin paints Omelians in a light that makes us feel this society occupies a fairytale city of noble knights, of naked playing children, and of street performers. The citizens are happy and joyous, rejoicing in the pristine eloquence of the city they created. They have no enemies, no military, no crime, and no guilt. A child appears half way into the story, and as it turns out, this child has a prominent role to play in this society. The child is a martyr and is necessary for Omelas’s economy, happiness, and existence. We can almost place a religious type figure like Jesus Christ in place of the child in this story. Like Jesus, this single child suffers for the benefit of the whole. Le Guin’s story can be related directly to the biblical story of Jesus Christ and how he suffered for our sins, how greed and money have become idols in our lives, and finally, this story relates to the biblical walk towards salvation.
First, I couldn't help but find myself constantly finding biblical ideas within this story. This story, to me, is plain and simple. The child is Christ. In order for the world to be good and happy (like we are forgiven), the child must suffer (like Christ had to die for our sins). I especially found relation when Le Guin says, "Some of them understand why the child is there and some do not." This made me really think about how some people knew that Christ was coming and was going to save us from our sins and how others had no idea who he was and even rejected Him. Although, after Christ's death, it was hard for