Les McCann

In Ursula Le Guin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” the reader finds themselves faced with a moral dilemma. Would you sacrifice someone’s happiness or even their life, I fit meant you would always have happiness? Chances are many people would in fact answer that question with a yes. Often times, there must be a sacrifice in order for a community or society to prosper. Omelas, or as Carl Badgley called it in his critique of the story, “Oh, my loss” is the perfect example of…

In both Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula Le Guin’s, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, there is a town in which a person is sacrificed in one way or another in order for the entire community to thrive. These sacrifices are rituals which only these towns know about. “The Lottery” focuses more on an actual ritual where the town draws papers from a box and one person ends up getting stoned in order for the crops of that year to thrive. “The Ones Who Walk Away” from Omelas is a story…

the village? How could so many be ok with killing someone? The outcome of the village should be based on all the villagers that a simply apart of the village and how they all can bring something different to the table than someone else. According to Le Guin “One of them may come and kick the child to make it stand up.” ( The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas pg.3) Now that is the most selfish thing again because as people come down and see the child they are abusing him to make themselves feel…

The short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the poem “Batter My Heart three-person 'd God” by John Donne, and the drama “Les Miserable” by Victor Hugo are all masterpieces created in different eras that have a couple things in common. All three pieces of work are primarily made up of a great deal of irony. By irony, each story is unique but also calls attention to the authors’ points. The Webster Dictionary defines irony as “a situation that is strange or funny because…

The dictionary defines the word “blind” as the lack of perception, awareness, or discernment. Symbolism, irony, and foreshadowing is used in many ways by the author in her short story called “The Lottery”. Shirley Jackson uses these literary devices to emphasize the idea that people will follow traditions blindly if that was how they were raised. “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a short story about a strange tradition. Once a year, the town gathers together and one member from each…

suggested by David Bordwell’s analysis of film narrative” (17). The lack of a sophisticated narrative and the extremely patriotic theme are only some evident elements that do not have a deep connotation. Mittell brings to the table an excellent point when he compares narrative complexity from a show’s difficulty. Another aspect that has damaged the show’s credibility is the accusations it has received for being biased. The show is being blamed for not only seeing one side of the story but also…

contrasting views of common preconceptions towards social constructs, such as gender, freedom, and race. By exposing readers to alternative worlds, science fiction allows one to reevaluate one’s perspective of familiar assumptions. Within Ursula K. Le Guin’s “A Woman’s Liberation, The Lathe of Heaven, and “Coming of Age in Karhide,” the alterations of gender, freedom, and race challenge…

Ursula Le Guin's Changing Planes is a collection of short stories based on one basic premise—the ability to change planes of reality while waiting to change planes at an airport. Each of the stories in this collection explores a different plane; some describe the general topography and culture of the plane, whereas others focus specifically on the people who live there, while still others follow a traditional narrative plotline as they describe a sequence of events. No matter their structure,…

In the story “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” that is written by Ursula Le Guin, the author opens the story by describing an ideal city, Omelas, full of happiness, joyfulness, and peacefulness. Omelas’ citizens are preparing to celebrate the upcoming summer festival. They have very good lives, almost free of troubles and problems that normal people usually have. The city seems to be free of rules and laws; people have no king controlling them, and they all seem to be equal. This is mentioned in…

The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas” is a story that portrays good and evil. Good, because Omelas was a city is filled with peace and happiness, a utopian society, producing an impression of city from a fairytale. However, under all the good, in the city of Omelas lies a dark side. In return for the all the good and happiness, a child is being propitiated to the extent of repugnant misery and is kept in a basement under a building in the…