The ones who walk away from omelas questions for discussion

THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION FREE

In Omelas, there is no one to shame and no hope of changing, ever. But all of this is directed towards showing disapproval, isloating the wrongdoer in hopes of provoking change. They will go so far as to avoid activities that don't even give the company any money, such as refusing to watch television programs they have sponsored. In our world, people often boycott companies that do objectionable things (such as keeping children in sweatshops where just such conditions prevail). It is a simple averting of the eyes, petulantly pretending that what is unseen is not. Now - if you leave Omelas, what does that achieve? Does it reduce the child's suffering? Does it make any difference at all? If not, Then I submit that leaving Omelas is not only futile, it's an act of selfishness towards everyone in the city, including the child. Thus, staying is an unquestionable good, though it may be balanced or overruled by other factors, such as the suffering child. Let us also sssume that the people who leave Omelas will go somewhere where it is likely that they will live a poorer life, excluding any psychological effects that leaving might have on them. First of all, let us assume that the utopia of the story is not a sickly-sweet harps-and-halos utopia, but actually an ideal society complete with pain, loss, and risk in their proper measures to achieve the optimal growth of human knowledge, achievevment, and spirit. While I understand the Omelas concept on an emotional level, I've never been able to find any justification for walking away.

THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION FREE

'How we have made everything around us clear and free and easy and simple! how we have been able to give our senses a passport to everything superficial, our thoughts a divine desire for wanton leaps and wrong inferences! how from the beginning we have contrived to retain our ignorance in order to enjoy an almost inconceivable freedom, lack of scruple and caution, heartiness, and gaiety of life - in order to enjoy life! ' Some of his notes from that time, and some drawings can be found in Ken Kesey's Garage Sale, a remarkably fun book. The Oregon State Mental Hospital is also where Ken Kesey was working when he got the idea for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

If that isnt a perfect description of a state mental hospital, I dont know what is. Ms LeGuin was making a statement about the preservation of utopia by hiding away and ignoring certain elements of society. As Ursula LeGuin is from Oregon I had learned, and believed that the word omelas was a statement about one of those institutions. Salem, Oregon was once the site of the Oregon State Penitentary and the Oregon State Mental Hospital.

The ones who walk away from omelas questions for discussion