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THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS

THEME

  • Theodicy : evil does occur in the presence of God, even though he may in difficult circumstances want to intervene, in reality he cannot do so.

"No matter how well the matter has been explained to them, these young spectators are always shocked and sickened at the sight. They feel disgust, which they thought themselves superior to. They feel anger, outrage, impotence, despite all the explanations. They would like to do something for the child. But there is nothing they can do. [...]". (Le Guin 534).

• Economic and religious faith - scapegoat, saccrifice

• Exploitation of the financially less fortunate

• The action of walking away from Omelas in the story represents the transformation of moving forward into a new life.

Ursula K. Le Guin, 1975

P.O.V

Laura O'Rafferty, Cassidy van Leeuwen,

Simeon Vong, Jonah Wiley

  • second person narrator
  • unreliable, manipulative
  • objective, non-biased account of Omelas, yet cynical/passive aggressive
  • demands YOUR opinion, what would YOU do

How much does the narrator’s point of view and attitude have an effect on the reader’s view of Omelas and its citizens?

PLOT

  • non-traditional
  • repeated set of events
  • People leaving after seeing child = only point of action

SETTING

The story mentions how the child has not always lived in the tool room; why do you think he was put there? Why is he subordinated by the people of Omelas/"the Terms"? Is there a class division/ social hierarchy in this utopia "without monarchy or slavery, [...] without the stock exchange, the advertisement, the secret police, and the bomb" (Le Guin 532)?

THE SCAPEGOAT

  • City of Omelas - UTOPIA
  • Time period not specified - Past? Future?

  • Very detailed physical descriptions:

“houses with red roofs and painted walls, between old moss-grown gardens and under avenues of trees, past great parks and public buildings” (Le Guin 531)

“The air of morning was so clear that the snow still crowning the Eighteen Peaks burned with white-gold fire across the miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue sky” (531)

“bright-towered by the sea” (531)

  • Values of citizens used to paint setting

  • Anger hostility and aggression towards others, as a projection of one’s own fears and insecurities. An aspect of blame psychology. (Kellerman 221)
  • Individual that innocently bears the blame of others ("Scapegoat")

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  • religion
  • right/wrong, morality
  • social hierachy/equity
  • class division
  • political power

WORKS CITED

Ursula K. Le Guin,

b. 1929

CHARACTERS

Collins, Jerre. "Leaving Omelas: Questions of Faith and Understanding." Short Story Criticism, Ed.

Joseph Palmisano, vol. 69, Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ko_acd_shc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1420056511&asid=63a602a89e2e38e07c4825ed7753f297. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016. Originally published in Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 27, no. 4, Fall 1990, pp. 525-535.

Kellerman, Henry. Dictionary Of Psychopathology. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. eBook

Academic Collection (EBSCOhost). http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/ehost/detail/detail?sid=98a20527-f590-445d-8387-f7b71c0eaed5%40sessionmgr103&vid=0&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=e000xna&AN=481378. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.

Knapp, Shoshana. "The Morality of Creation: Dostoevsky and William James in Le Guin's 'Omelas'."

Short Story Criticism, edited by David L. Siegel, vol. 12, Gale, 1993. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&sw=w&u=ko_acd_shc&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CH1100003066&asid=d4dc866f73016d8cf8b6ef3b212b5266. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016. Originally published in The Journal of Narrative Technique, vol. 15, no. 1, Winter 1985, pp. 75-81.

Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” The Art of the Short Story: 52 Great

Authors, Their Best Short Fiction, and Their Insights on Writing, Eds. Dana Gioia, and R. S. Gwynn New York, Pearson Longman, 2006. pp. 531-535.

"Scapegoat,." Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 19 Sep. 2016.

academic.eb.com.library.sheridanc.on.ca/levels/collegiate/article/66030. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.

"The Talking Porcupine Liberates Utopia: Le Guin's 'Omelas' As Pretext To The Dance." Utopian

Studies 2.1/2 (1991): 6. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 1 Dec. 2016.

  • "American novelist"
  • Anthropologist/ Folklorist parents, academic upbringing
  • Repeat winner of Hugo and Nebula Award
  • Sci-fi/Fantasy
  • The Narrator leaves much up to reader
  • Child's prison:

"In a basement under one of the beautiful public buildings of Omelas, or perhaps in the cellar of one of its spacious private homes, there is a room." (Le Guin 533)

  • citizens of Omelas
  • "It" - child in cellar
  • ones who walk away from Omelas
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