The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Suffering for Happiness
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a story written by Ursula K. Le Guin. After reading this story, I wanted to belong to Omelas. It was the place to live in because of its joyful streets along with the people surrounded by happiness. This city was close to what I imagine heaven to be; however, the happiness incorporated into the city was obtained through the suffering of one innocent child. People had the freedom to live in Omelas knowing about this fact while others would walk away to the unknown. Omelas made think of a paradise, better yet what a heaven may feel like to terrestrial souls. As hard as it was to imagine, I thought that belonging to such city could help us forget what pain feels like and bring upon peace. People in Omeals were described as “ not less complex than us” (Ursula K. Le Guin 259), so why is evil still around us day after day? We, humans, are complicated creatures. We are curious; we want to find out the unknown. We want to understand our purpose on earth, and in the process we sometimes lose track of truly finding out what makes us happy, but instead our lives are taken by long hours of work to achieve a result of having enough money to cover the bills so that we can then have peace of mind.
Since I was a little girl, I went to catholic school and religion was always a big part of my life. I thought of this child of being perhaps a fallen angel who knew of evil and would persuade people to do so. “I will be good,” (261) the child says. Therefore, from a religious point of view, I see this child as one of the fallen angels who wanted to let the people learn about evil and so turn against God. Before the discussion in class, I was convinced that Omelas was the city to live in because there was nothing that resembled evil. However, it did not occur to me that to be able to appreciate happiness and the beauty in the world, there has to be a contrast and in this context it meant evil as discussed in
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a story written by Ursula K. Le Guin. After reading this story, I wanted to belong to Omelas. It was the place to live in because of its joyful streets along with the people surrounded by happiness. This city was close to what I imagine heaven to be; however, the happiness incorporated into the city was obtained through the suffering of one innocent child. People had the freedom to live in Omelas knowing about this fact while others would walk away to the unknown. Omelas made think of a paradise, better yet what a heaven may feel like to terrestrial souls. As hard as it was to imagine, I thought that belonging to such city could help us forget what pain feels like and bring upon peace. People in Omeals were described as “ not less complex than us” (Ursula K. Le Guin 259), so why is evil still around us day after day? We, humans, are complicated creatures. We are curious; we want to find out the unknown. We want to understand our purpose on earth, and in the process we sometimes lose track of truly finding out what makes us happy, but instead our lives are taken by long hours of work to achieve a result of having enough money to cover the bills so that we can then have peace of mind.
Since I was a little girl, I went to catholic school and religion was always a big part of my life. I thought of this child of being perhaps a fallen angel who knew of evil and would persuade people to do so. “I will be good,” (261) the child says. Therefore, from a religious point of view, I see this child as one of the fallen angels who wanted to let the people learn about evil and so turn against God. Before the discussion in class, I was convinced that Omelas was the city to live in because there was nothing that resembled evil. However, it did not occur to me that to be able to appreciate happiness and the beauty in the world, there has to be a contrast and in this context it meant evil as discussed in