Reflections: Those Who Walk Away from Omelas
From: The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. Le Guin
“The scapegoat”: one soul must live in lonely torment for the sake of the happiness of the many.
Deliberate acceptance of such a bargain comes at the expense of one’s own acceptance of our individual darkness. In our minds we know and fully understand the wrong we do the one chosen to bear the burden of our happiness upon their shoulders. That such a burden would be put upon a child, one who does not know and understand the sacrifice they have been chosen to make — this intensifies the guilt of such a thing.
In Omelas there are no police. There are no soldiers. There are no clergy. Why would there be? Each citizen of Omelas is kept in check by the guilt they bear. To squander what fruits are borne on the back of the tormented child is blasphemy. To spit in the face of the suffering that keeps such peace would be as terrible as allowing the torment to continue. The other way the people of Omelas are controlled by the situation of their utopia is by placing the burden of the happiness of all upon the shoulders of each. To attempt to change the circumstances of the child would be to unravel the pleasant and beautiful lives of each family member, neighbor, friend.
The people of Omelas are not naïve; they are not simple folks. Happy. Not goody-goody, as the author describes, but experiencing joy as only those who know its cost can do. The happiness of the people of Omelas must be overshadowed by the existential awareness that every moment might be the last of that precious peace. All of it hinges on the silence and acceptance of all; toppled by one act that goes against the rules upon which this utopia was built.
Are the people of Omelas bad people? I do not believe the answers are as black and white as the concepts of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. The author tries desperately to describe to the reader the fact that these people are not as simple as this. To be sheep would excuse the situation of the child much too easily. Their lives, their dilemma, are much more complicated. Each citizen of Omelas becomes aware of the situation of the child between the ages of 8 and 12. Think of why they might be told then. Not before, when they might not understand, when their own childhood is just beginning — not later when they have left childhood and are bound for adulthood. Why at 8–12? This is another way to ensure the control of the people of Omelas. 8–12, too old to forget what they have been told; too young to upset the beautiful peace to which they are so accustomed. The author says there is no guilt in Omelas, but I disagree They may not know the word, or put thought to naming it, but it is inside them all the same. Every moment of joy is perched delicately on the shoulders of 8–12 year olds, because they can adapt to it. Accept the word of those who are older; who know better. This is the way it has always been, this is how it must always be.
What about the ones who walk away from Omelas? Why do they react so differently than the majority? What happens to them when they lay eyes on the child in the 3x2 closet with the dirt floor? To some, the sight must awaken what Omelas tries so hard to keep sleeping. What do the people of Omelas know of sadness? Despair? The suffering and the darkness- how shocking it must be to come face to face with these ideals in the form of such a pitiful creature. A child, like them at 8–12, whose situation their joyous and happy childhood is responsible for. Every moment of their laughter means pain and suffering for the child. Every hug means none for the child. And oh! how deeply the guilt must spring to life in these people. Unable to compartmentalize, to excuse, to accept ‘this is how it is and this is how it will always be’. It does not lighten the burden which suddenly sits so squarely upon their shoulders. Perhaps they can try to go along- but someday it cannot be ignored. Cannot be borne!
But why do they simply walk away? Silent? Not screaming to release the child, to stop this terrible treatment of it? I’ve considered this question and the answer that comes to me is this:
We are all beholden to the world that raised us, in some way or another. These people in Omelas were happy and loved. They were done no wrong by the people who would be most harmed by the toppling of the utopia in Omelas. They are torn between two battling emotions. They cannot continue to accept the situation of the child in the closet. Nor can they bring themselves to harm those who live in Omelas. It cannot be a well thought-out decision, but an instinctual knowing that they must leave Omelas to its own effervescent darkness. They cannot destroy the happiness of those they love, neither can they accept their part in the suffering of the child. So they simply leave, silently and without fanfare. They accept the fact that changing everything means destroying it, perpetuating the suffering and torment of the child and transferring it all to the citizens of Omelas. This leads them to walk silently away from the city, leaving its borders without a word.
We cannot accept this. We cannot be a part of it. A declaration as powerful in silence as it is in screams. I believe those who leave Omelas do not speak of its secrets in whatever place they end up. They do not denounce the shining city or its people, but they tell stories. They tell stories, sing songs, write poems- about the price of utopia. They speak about the joy they felt as a child, and the way knowledge came to them to destroy their innocence. How they could not ignore their guilt at their part in the suffering of others, even unknowing. They talk about the underlying darkness that accompanies even the most beautiful of intentions. Those who walk away do not return to Omelas, choosing whatever suffering of their own they may encounter once they leave its borders over living in a society that would allow the suffering of one for the easement of the many. How they must think “it could have been me!” How does Omelas choose which child goes into the closet? It could have been them. It could be us.
Stay tuned to part II, in which I discuss Those Who Walk Away from Omelas and the Spring Day music video by BTS.
