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kvarkomancer 's review for:
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
by Ursula K. Le Guin
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Verdict: Really, really recommend. And then preferably tell me all what you thought about.
What a fascinating and intriguing story. I love how many open-ended questions it leaves for the reader to reflect on. This is a story that can be read in a thousand different ways, and how you interpret it can tell a lot about who are you. Who (or what?) is the child? Is it is true or not that the prosperity of Omelas is dependent on this child's oppression? Is our narrator reliable? Why is it that the ones who walk away from Omelas leave, and where do they go?
You could maybe think that it is a metaphor for the paradox of tolerance: the child represents intolerance, and it cannot be in no way tolerated if a warless, classless, post-scarcity society is to persevere, so its maltreatment is justified. Or perhaps it's the opposite, and this society is in reality profoundly intolerant—a fascist eugenicist state like Brave New World—, whose social fabric is threatened at its core by the existence of difference, and those who leave, leave in rejection of such a society. Who knows, although I personally chose to interpret it as the latter.
I also find it strange that the narrator mentions that where the people who leave Omelas go *cannot* (not won't) be described. Do they tell the truth, or is the narrator simply incapable of imagining another society through the lenses of their own, and thus deems it impossible?
It's a very short read, less than 5 pages long. I would seriously recommend taking a minute out of your day to read it.
What a fascinating and intriguing story. I love how many open-ended questions it leaves for the reader to reflect on. This is a story that can be read in a thousand different ways, and how you interpret it can tell a lot about who are you. Who (or what?) is the child? Is it is true or not that the prosperity of Omelas is dependent on this child's oppression? Is our narrator reliable? Why is it that the ones who walk away from Omelas leave, and where do they go?
You could maybe think that it is a metaphor for the paradox of tolerance: the child represents intolerance, and it cannot be in no way tolerated if a warless, classless, post-scarcity society is to persevere, so its maltreatment is justified. Or perhaps it's the opposite, and this society is in reality profoundly intolerant—a fascist eugenicist state like Brave New World—, whose social fabric is threatened at its core by the existence of difference, and those who leave, leave in rejection of such a society. Who knows, although I personally chose to interpret it as the latter.
I also find it strange that the narrator mentions that where the people who leave Omelas go *cannot* (not won't) be described. Do they tell the truth, or is the narrator simply incapable of imagining another society through the lenses of their own, and thus deems it impossible?
It's a very short read, less than 5 pages long. I would seriously recommend taking a minute out of your day to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement
Minor: Excrement