In Ursula K. Le Guin's story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, a perfect world is described, a utopia. But this isn't just any utopia, it's your utopia. Whatever creates joy and happiness but is not derived from fear and harm is in your own world. It's beautiful and peaceful. The air is light. Bur what is hidden here is ugly and pitiful and disgusting. In the basement of one of Omelas' houses, a child lives. There is no light, no bathroom. The child sits all day in its threadbare clothes and waits for people to come, never leaving the cold, dark room. At a certain age, young adults are brought to see the child in its misery, to understand why Omelas is perfect, why they live in utter bliss. Everyone is shocked and disgusted. But they can do nothing. They cannot make a single improvement in the child's life or else they let guilt enter the city. Sometimes people leave the city. Trying to achieve a place or a space or time where life is even less imaginable than Omelas.
Le Guin give us the control to design our own world. She does this in order to bring us into the story, to make us kin to what we read about. Her writing evokes emotions that we would not feel if we were told about a town with a child in the basement that is there so that the town can live a utopian life. We make the story our own and we become tied to it. This was designed in order to provoke reactions. I know it provoked reactions from me. I felt elated while reading the part about the utopia, however when I stumbled upon the child, I felt terrible. Sadness. Pity. Anger. Guilt. Most of all guilt. It made me feel really guilty to know that every day I would go home to a family that loves me, a bathroom and plenty of happiness. This child has nothing and fears all. By those who remain in the utopia, it is considered an animal. But it feels pain and sadness and fear. But it knows little else. It is surrounded by those terrors night and day.
This allows the people who visit it to rationalize leaving the child there. Happiness is discriminatory. What makes some happy would overwhelm or scare another. And if you try to push what makes you happy on another person, you can even torture them in the process of trying to make them happy.
Le Guin allows us to make comparisons to the real world. We are able to see the news and see the torment that people around the world face daily. We are able to want to help, to be kind and then forget about them. We realize that they are better off without the help of people who can actually make a difference. And sometimes they are, however in some circumstance our help would actually make their situation a whole lot worse. Take for example the Vietnam War. We went in to "help" the people of Vietnam against a communist government, however, we ended up only extending their suffering as happiness is discriminatory.
Le Guin give us the control to design our own world. She does this in order to bring us into the story, to make us kin to what we read about. Her writing evokes emotions that we would not feel if we were told about a town with a child in the basement that is there so that the town can live a utopian life. We make the story our own and we become tied to it. This was designed in order to provoke reactions. I know it provoked reactions from me. I felt elated while reading the part about the utopia, however when I stumbled upon the child, I felt terrible. Sadness. Pity. Anger. Guilt. Most of all guilt. It made me feel really guilty to know that every day I would go home to a family that loves me, a bathroom and plenty of happiness. This child has nothing and fears all. By those who remain in the utopia, it is considered an animal. But it feels pain and sadness and fear. But it knows little else. It is surrounded by those terrors night and day.
This allows the people who visit it to rationalize leaving the child there. Happiness is discriminatory. What makes some happy would overwhelm or scare another. And if you try to push what makes you happy on another person, you can even torture them in the process of trying to make them happy.
Le Guin allows us to make comparisons to the real world. We are able to see the news and see the torment that people around the world face daily. We are able to want to help, to be kind and then forget about them. We realize that they are better off without the help of people who can actually make a difference. And sometimes they are, however in some circumstance our help would actually make their situation a whole lot worse. Take for example the Vietnam War. We went in to "help" the people of Vietnam against a communist government, however, we ended up only extending their suffering as happiness is discriminatory.