Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” is a great example of how inequality is often present, yet ignored, in our society. Like the citizens of Omelas, most people think that it’s okay, or rather necessary, for one person to suffer for the greater good. In our case, the one person who suffers is not actually a person. It is, in fact, a group of people who’s suffering is constantly being ignored. Le Guin uses the child in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" to demonstrate the line…

The idea of a perfect world is very complex and often confusing to understand; it becomes simpler to imagine such world if suffering existed within it. However, if a perfect world contains suffering, it then becomes flawed. In Ursula Le Guin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the narrator struggles with the problem of creating a realistic ‘perfect world’, and as a solution she has created two contradictory worlds in which the existence of one is dependant on the other. the narrator provides…

Kindness Matters In the Left Hand of Darkness, the Gethenian’s are a unique breed that were used for experimentation. The Gethen’s can relate to our transgendered community. Gender plays a huge role in science fiction. Challenging our thoughts on what we think is normal broadening our horizons on embracing the supernatural. Although the Gethenians are neither man or female and that seems weird to us. Does Gender really play a major role in defining who we are at the end of the day regardless…

Loss of life, something that everyone must face, many short stories have dug into this topic such as Gwilan’s Harp by Ursula K. LeGuin, The Washwoman by Isaac Bashevis Singer, and The Last Leaf by O. Henry. The climax of each story comes when an important character dies, forever impacting the surrounding characters. In Gwilan’s Harp, Gwilan endures the loss of her husband Torm and of her beloved harp, but finds fulfilment in her god given talents. The Death of the washwoman in the aptly named…

In the short-stories “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “Gwilan’s Harp by Ursula K. LeGuin, all of the characters struggle with many losses. One of the main and most apparent loss is life in each story. In “The Last Leaf”, ironically, a failure of a painter, Old Behrman dies, when it is least expected. Behrman was not respected, but his death leads the reader to instantly admire him for his brave attempt to save someone he loved. “Gwilan’s Harp” displays a loss of…

happiness and joy. One day when it was warm “the festival of Summer came to the city of Omelas, bright-towered by the sea. Some streets filled with woman carrying their babies chatting as they walked and others filled with music laughter and dancing”(Le Guin 1). When the word festival comes to mind it brings thoughts of joy happiness and comfort to be yourselves. While walking through the streets seeing snow on the mountain peaks, feeling a light breeze through the air, and hearing a faint cheer…

Yes, I think that the Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas should be a required story for the students in 8th grade. I believe this for multiple reasons. One is that it brings more of an understanding that a utopia can not be real. Another reason I believe that it should be required is because I personally think that it makes you think a little deeper into something that has a theme that can go into a lot of different things, such as in your general day to day lives. Lastly, I think it should be a…

The short story,” The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas”, by Ursula Le Guin unifies the central idea that there is no such thing as a perfect (Utopia) society; every society has their own dark secret. The central idea that there is no such thing as a perfect (Utopia) society, every society has their own dark secret is evident through Ursula Le Guin’s use of symbolism. On page 3, the author states,” In the basement under one of the beautiful public buildings of Omelas, or perhaps in the cellar of…

Human nature plays a huge role in how our societies function. Even in a utopian environment such as Omelas in "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", by Ursula Le Guin. This society values happiness as one of their greatest virtues, but like any human civilization, it comes at a steep price. Because of humans' tendency to become violent, this story focuses on how this society practices no destructive behaviors whatsoever. Although this is true for the most part, they are still human, and must find…

“The Lottery” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” are both stories that share one pivotal theme, sacrifice. “The Lottery” follows a town that blindly follows tradition and sacrifices one of their own every year believing it will bring them good harvest. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” follows a similar path in that the citizens of Omela’s happiness draws from the suffering of one small child, residing underneath the city. While the motivations in both stories are slightly different,…