In The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, Ursula K. Le Guin describes a happy and peaceful city where everyone seems to live a perfect life. But this happiness has a dark secret: it all depends on one child’s suffering. Le Guin uses the sharp difference between the city’s joy and the child’s pain to ask tough questions about what is right and wrong. Is it okay to sacrifice one person to make everyone else happy? This story pushes us to think about these difficult moral choices.

Omelas looks like the perfect city. The people are smart, kind, and live in harmony. During the Summer Festival, children play, music fills the air, and everyone feels free and happy. There are no wars, no kings, and no suffering – on the surface, it seems like a dream place where everyone would want to live. But Omelas has a terrible secret. In a small, dark room, a child is locked away, starving and neglected. The room is filthy, and the child is weak, dirty, and covered in sores. The child cries and begs to be let out, but no one listens. This child’s suffering is the price for the city’s happiness. Without this pain, the people of Omelas believe their perfect life would fall apart. Most people in Omelas know about the child. At first, they feel sad or angry, but they decide it’s better to let one child suffer than ruin happiness for everyone else. But not everyone agrees. Some people can’t accept this unfair trade. Quietly, they leave Omelas, walking into the unknown. These people represent those who refuse to live with injustice, even if it means giving up their own happiness.

Le Guin’s story shows us that happiness built on someone else’s suffering is not simple or pure. It makes us question whether true happiness can exist when it comes at such a high cost. The people who leave Omelas show courage, choosing what is right over what is easy. This story makes me wonder: in our world, are we willing to accept unfairness for our own comfort, or will we stand up and walk away?

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