The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

As new genres in the world of novels fade out of the public eye, new ones arise just as fast. A genre that has taken the world by storm is the dystopian trope. Many new young adult novels have this new genre incorporated into the story, often weaving in themes of sadness or conformity being overcome by rebelliousness and hope. It is one of the newest genres, yet one of the most widely varied compared to older ones. Even novels from 70 years ago, such as Ayn Rand’s Anthem share similarities with the same types of stories from only 20 years ago, like The Giver by Lois Lowry.

To be happy, one must take the happiness of others. That’s just how it works, right? In most cases, joy is brought by other’s despair. Author Ursula K. Le Guin took this into a more literal level, in her short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Le Guin tells a story about a town of fueling all of it’s happiness through one child who must suffer.

Some might claim the YA genre has grown to be too dark for its target audience. Meghan Gurdon, a firm believer of this idea, explains why she believes this in her article, “Darkness Too Visible”. Gurdon describes the experience of a mother of three in a bookstore looking to purchase a YA novel for one of her children, when she found herself leaving the bookstore empty-handed due to the content of the teen books. While teen books decades ago contained less violent/corrupted material, times have changed along with the genre. She is concerned that these books could have an effect on these young readers’ brains as they are merely transferring from childhood to adulthood. Gurdon still has faith that YA books would sell just as well and connect with young readers today without all of the dark subject matters discussed in them these days.

Dark themes are on the rise in young adult literature, and parents can’t help but wonder if this is due to the abundance of these subjects in adult literature. Literary critic Meghan Cox Gurdon’s editorial “Darkness Too Visible” and author Sherman Alexie’s response “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood” have contrasting views on this subject. However, with the superior techniques Alexie Sherman is more effective. Both authors use themes and style in their writing, but with his superior use of persuasive techniques Alexie Sherman’s article is ultimately more effective.

The future can be a strange and scary thing to think about, especially when its predictions are not good. Dystopian authors don’t necessarily predict the future as much as they warn against what the present could become. They warn readers by using something called satire. Satire in dystopian novels is when authors exaggerate society’s current situation so that readers learn from their actions. Authors like Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut use satire to warn against rules of society like conformity, equality, and censorship.

He believes that “tomorrow isn’t what it used to be” and that “what we could really use right now are a few utopian novels”. These excerpts from the essay clearly define the author's position that he sees the latest trend in young adult fiction novels to be quite pessimistic and believes that there needs to be some kind of balance. He does this so that the readers of these works have the ability to experience the happy endings as well as the somewhat cynical endings of the seemingly endless array of futuristic dystopian worlds. Reeve continues to support his argument by throwing phrases such as “the apocalypse, we seem to be teaching young readers, is something that you have to take seriously” and “more worrying still is the absence of any counterbalance”, which propose that the authors of the young adult novels are finding themselves getting caught up in the worlds that they are creating and drifting further from the reality

“The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walked away from Omelas” definitely falls in with the utilitarianism theory that I learned from my philosophy class. The theory is based on maximize happiness. Like in “The Lottery” the people believe that their annual ritual of sacrificing one of their people will wash away the sins in the society and that it will help prosper their crops. Tessie Hutchinson pleaded for her life as the villagers were getting ready to stone her. Of course no one listen to her because everyone was taught to believe that it was necessary and for the ones who wanted to say that it’s wrong, they couldn’t for they too believed they will be sacrificed.

In both works, “The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K Leguin and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors show sacrifice. This essay will compare the differences and similarities in the stories, and how these sacrifices add to the fulfillment of their lives, success, and happiness.

Contemporary American culture is represented in “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin. Omelas is a Utopian city which inhabits citizens who are pleased and content with their lives. It is described as happy, full of freedom and joy. However, this privilege of life comes at a price. In order for the people of Omelas to live this way, a child must be kept stowed away in a dark closet. Miserable and left to wallow in it's own filth, the citizens are told or even bear witness to the child's agony. After being exposed to the child, most of the citizens carry on with their lives, employing the cause of the child's unfortunate place in their society. Nobody knows where they go, but some do silently walk

Society today and throughout history is filled with flaws. People have been treated unequally since the foundation of our country, despite the fact that there are many who believe that all of the social problems have been solved. Through analyzing literature that has been written during the last one hundred years, it is possible to see the concerns that authors raise about the treatment of individuals. Dystopic works portray the issues of our society, in which the authors’ fiction and dramatization form reactions from their audience to create awareness. The authors write their opinions within the plot based upon what they believe could happen if our society continues to act negatively.

Through the course of this paper the author will try to demonstrate, depicting both sides of the argument, the reasons in which a follower of John Stuart Mill 's "Utilitarianism" would disagree with the events taking place in Ursula Le Guin 's "The One 's Who Walk Away from Omelas."

A glimpse of the future can always be a reason to advocate towards the public and united as one to prevent an upfront within one’s self or civilization. In the afterword’s, one can identify foreshadowing throughout the novel 1984 that warns the people whose freedom is endangered. This incentive of foreshadowing conveyed through, “near despair about the future of man… men all over the world will lose their most human qualities”, emphasizes that the future of civilization is in danger of being abominated from their freedom becoming nonexistent. “Men all over the world will lose their most human qualities”, emphasizes these ideas that if they don’t act now there will no freedom to confide on. This in the eyes of the public is a wake up sign to

The fictional story of a utopian society in The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas depicts a utopian society without poverty, hunger, or crime and with no need for laws or rulers. The primary concept of this story is the reflection of the relationship between the rich and the powerful nations and those that are poor, lacking power, wealth, political and social order (Le Guin, 1991). The story explores the existing connection between the rich nations and the poor nations. In the story, the idea of the creation of “Omelas” as being a land of elation and joy drives that fantasy that it is a land of perfection and the descriptions of its regal nature, festivals, and its entire surroundings can be compared to the widely spread notion of the American

In 1966 Truman Capote shocked the world with a novel unlike anything ever seen before. Capote’s novel “In Cold Blood” not only entranced readers with its often dark and mysterious tone, stunning imagery and controversial elements but introduced its audience to an all new genre, a non-fiction novel. In 2001 Lois T. Stover commented on the complexity and depth found in quality young adult literature, she stated that “Good young adult literature deals with the themes and issues that mirror the concerns of society … it help readers understand the complexities and shades of grey involved in dealing with these issues." “In Cold Blood” is a superb example that there is nothing simple about quality young adult literature, themes and messages found in capotes crime/thriller novel did and still relate heavily to our growing society. “In Cold Blood” explores numerous social issues; including the detrimental effects of mental illness, the banality of evil and the importance of family however it’s the commentary Capote makes on the so called “American dream” that questions its authenticity, takes centre stage throughout the novel.

In a dystopian society, one can face many troublesome things within the control of a government. Because of their leaders and government, many nations face dystopia. Within the dystopian society of Nazi Germany, the citizens were controlled by Hitler and the government; Hitler segregated the Jews and changed many of the German society’s viewpoints that impacted many people to agree with the choices of the government. In evaluating how Nazi Germany was a dystopian society, one can know how dystopia can influence many people’s lives through literary works.