The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Literary Analysis

the ones who walk away from omelas. I believe The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is an example of both utopian and dystopian literature. It has elements corresponding to both types of literature although they are divided into the first and second halves of the story respectively. The author leads you on to believe that Omelas is in perfect harmony and that the inhabitants are content with their lives completely. The people of Omelas have no crime, sickness, poverty or greed. However, as the story goes on, things are not pleasant for all the inhabitants of Omelas as the author would have you believe. At the beginning of the story the author paints a picture of a port town with many boats in its harbor with flags ready for celebration. The
We as readers knew it was too good to be true and the author had us going the whole time. That child is the only thing that keeps all of their beautiful society together(Thripp, Richard X. "Critical Analysis"). When the children of Omelas learn of the fact that they have a child of approximately the same age as themselves as their prisoner, the new discovery is sickening and angering. No matter how much their parents try to explain and justify why this young person is in the cellar, it can take many years for some to get over the traumatic sight of the young member of their community sitting in its own filth and starving in a basement cellar saying "I'll be good!" whenever someone opens the
They reason with themselves and say that by now the child is too deprived to be saved. If they let the child out now it would not be able to know what it means to live. The child must be deformed or mentally challenged, why else would it be locked away? It doesn’t belong in our society. The word it being used because the child isn't even human anymore in the eyes of the citizens of Omelas. The thing in the dark room should remain there so that we the real people can have our freedom. That is where the dystopian nature of Omelas comes to play. They maintain the appearance of a wonderland for all to enjoy and for all the surrounding land to wish that they had but in reality THEY are the ones who are savages. Their society is built upon lies and torture of a young human and that is why the city of Omelas is a paradise for many but a hell for