The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas

As I was reading this piece I was mortified by what this little kid had to endure to allow everyone else to be happy. I wonder what the purpose is to having a child sit in a room and be miserable. Although the child does have to endure isolation and starvation I thought that the town seemed like a peaceful place. The society there was orderly, but was also relaxing and fun.

1984 and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas are very similar. In both stories a “higher power” controlled society. In 1984 the “higher power” was Big Brother and in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas it is the maker. Blind acceptance was in both novels. In 1984 the blind acceptance was that what ever Big Brother said was true and in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas it was that this little child had to suffer to allow everyone else in town to be free. As I read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas I noticed that if one did not believe in the torture of the child, they were allowed to leave, but in 1984 it was believe or be killed.

When the author used personification when “the horses rear on their slender legs, and some of them neigh in answer”; the author says this as if a something can prompt a horse to answer. The author’s style made it clear that this was a peaceful town. The author’s metaphor, “Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time” makes the reader picture a fairy tale.

1) What is the purpose to having on child tortured for the benefit of others?
2) What were the themes of the story?
3) Was there a “God” is the story? Who?
4) Who controlled society?
5) Where could the people who walked away from Omelas be going?