LeGuin Blog Post Prompt
How does Le Guin use the stark contrast between the idyllic city of Omelas and the suffering child to explore the ethics of societal happiness and the nature of morality? (300 words, use at least 3 examples from the story.)
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Rakesh Ramsaywack
Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” aptly captures the ethics of a
society’s happiness and the nature of morality by contrasting the idyllic city of Omelas and the
suffering child. These are contrasted to determine whether it is morally right for a society to be
happy at the expense of another person’s suffering.
Specifically, the author used this story as a way through which we can examine the moral
sacrifices that are made to make a society happy and comfortable. First, Omelas is presented as a
beautiful place with some of the things that human beings would want to enjoy or be happy. For
instance, the city is in the midst of holding the Festival of Summer, where there is a carnival
mood (Le Guin 1). Notably, the background of this city is enchanting with greatness surrounding
it. This could be compared with one of the rooms in the basement of a building within the town
where a thin child sits while whining. The child is within a room that is described as clotted,
foul-smelling, and has dirty floors (Le Guin 3). These conditions are meant to show that while
the city revels in a happy festival, it does not consider it ethical and morally right to improve the
living conditions of its residents, like the neglected child.
Additionally, questions about suffering and the ethics of societal happiness are explored
when Le Guin poses whether it is morally right for the city of Omelas to thrive while others live
in misery. The author laments that in all the happiness and beauty of the city of Omelas, one
thing that still misses is that all this depends on the abominable misery of the child (Le Guin 4).
This miserable child has reached a limit whereby it is no longer whining. In essence, the author
calls out the unethical conduct of Omelas in engaging in an act that makes it happy at the
expense of an individual child.
Work Cited
Le Guin, Ursula K. "The ones who walk away from Omelas." The Wind's Twelve Quarters: 1-5.