week 9 blog

 This week in class we had a guest speaker Dr Glenn Loughran who joined us to discuss the short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin. I had read the story before the class and thought it was a bit strange as I didn't understand the metaphors within the text until Dr Loughran engaged us in a very interesting discussion about the story and led us to develop our own understanding ourselves. 

For a quick overview of what the story means, essentially it is about a society of people who are very humble and content and seem to have no issues in their lives at all, a fantasy. As the story goes on, it takes a dark turn, we are told about a very young child who is trapped in a blacked out basement with barely any food or water and no one will let him out. The dark and twisted reason for this is for everyone else in that society's happiness. "They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery" (Le Guin). Effectively, the metaphor is that complete happiness and success have consequences, someone or something will suffer. 

We had a discussion in the class about whether we would walk away from the Omelas, or stay. In this scenario with the child being captivated, I would have to do something. It is a moral thing to see that that situation is wrong so I know I wouldn't be alone making a change. I recall a class mate saying that either walking away and staying are just as bad, the child will still be held there if you go and don't do anything. This idea has stuck with me and from this I say I would try very hard to make the people in the Omelas aware that change needs to happen and propose that we all act together to free this child and make things right. I could only pray that people would join me. If no one did, I'd have to stay as I could not leave the child like that. I would bring him food, water and what ever he wanted as it's the least I could do while I still try to make a change.

References

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas From The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Short Stories by Ursula Le Guin 1973.