Author Ursula Le Guin builds a utopia that the reader is meant to imagine. He builds a bright, free, and happy city. However, one large stipulation of the communities’ happiness is that pain of an innocent child is needed to keep that perfect world together. With that in mind, The Ones Who Walk Away from the City of Omelas, by Ursula Le Guin, questions whether majority happiness should be valued above one innocent individual’s suffering, analyzes the response of the citizens, whether it is ethical to live in that utopia, and can it even exist.
Omelas is not a utopia because it is not a perfect city because a child is suffering. A utopia is defined as “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). A perfect civilization would entail happiness for everyone. The stipulation that keeps the child from being happy. Neither is Omelas a dystopia, the majority of citizens are happy. Omelas teeter in between which makes it all the more interesting in …show more content…
They understand that they cannot risk harming the majority for a single child, but when they leave they lower the cost. Their are aware of the life they have been living has a cost and so they leave. Another important fact is that they leave alone. Instead of a mob mentality where everyone can agree to continue the suffering of the innocent they go alone. One major idea that flows through dystopia like Brave New World is the idea of a central mentality rather than individuals..“Each one goes alone” another major idea of dystopia is an individual versus a passive society (4). “But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from omelas” because with the realization of the that the utopia is doing (4) If every citizen were to leave their majestic city, it would mean losing the utopia but they could then release the innocent child. That is the
Omelas is not a utopia because it is not a perfect city because a child is suffering. A utopia is defined as “an imaginary place in which the government, laws, and social conditions are perfect” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). A perfect civilization would entail happiness for everyone. The stipulation that keeps the child from being happy. Neither is Omelas a dystopia, the majority of citizens are happy. Omelas teeter in between which makes it all the more interesting in …show more content…
They understand that they cannot risk harming the majority for a single child, but when they leave they lower the cost. Their are aware of the life they have been living has a cost and so they leave. Another important fact is that they leave alone. Instead of a mob mentality where everyone can agree to continue the suffering of the innocent they go alone. One major idea that flows through dystopia like Brave New World is the idea of a central mentality rather than individuals..“Each one goes alone” another major idea of dystopia is an individual versus a passive society (4). “But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from omelas” because with the realization of the that the utopia is doing (4) If every citizen were to leave their majestic city, it would mean losing the utopia but they could then release the innocent child. That is the