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• How can I tell you about the people of Omelas? A city of everything you could ever imagine. Endless sex, drugs, a true city of joy some might say. All citizens of Omelas experience this perfect world, well, all but one. As all things in life have a price, the price of Omelas social harmony and happiness comes at the expense of a child, who is forced into solitary confinement in a basement. Everyone knows of this child, but helping the child would destroy all things good about Omelas, so they are left with two choices: let the child suffer, or to leave Omelas. Those who walk away from Omelas travel to a place that is unknown to mankind, a place that is indescribable, however, it is a place where you will not have to let a child suffer to be happy. Now I ask again, how can I tell you about the people of Omelas? Are they selfish to let someone else suffer to benefit themselves, or are they just doing what’s right for the greater good of the city?

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: A Reflection

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas relay that no joy can exist without suffering. Even in Ursula Le Guin’s imaginary city of happiness, one child must suffer horrible torture and neglect for the citizens of Omelas to obtain complete happiness.

Understanding the Sacrifice

The moral dilemma in The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is justice versus happiness. The happiness of community members depends on the suffering of one child locked in a windowless closet.

The Price of Perfection

This story illustrates a seemingly perfect utopian society with everything anyone could ever imagine wanting, at the cost of one child's suffering.

Moral Compromise

All possibilities for a happy life in Omelas are plagued by moral compromise because of a child's suffering. How can anyone live with happiness gained in this way?

The Irony of Self-Centered Joy

The irony of living in a society like Omelas is that happiness is impossible because of the lack of meaningful relationships. When people are this selfish and self-centered, guilt ceases to exist.

Reflections on Society

The story of Omelas portrays a flawless city in which everything seems perfect. However, the price paid for happiness is a tortured boy kept in a closet. Does this relate to the author's view about our capitalistic society?

Symbolism and Themes

The moral perversion is so great among the citizens of Omelas that to keep harmony and happiness, they have to harm an innocent, helpless child consistently. Is this a symbol of current society more than a character in a book?

Utilitarianism and Moral Weaknesses

Ursula Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas fails to defeat utilitarianism due to the imaginary world she created where happiness for all can be had for the price of one child's lifelong torture and neglect. Does this expose our own society’s moral weaknesses?

• When did the ritual of letting a child suffer start?
• Does it have to be a child that suffers?
• What happens when the kid eventually dies down in the basement? Is the kid replaced?
• Do citizens that leave Omelas ever come back to the city?
• What even is “drooz”?
• If the child can’t ever be cared for, how is its food changed out? And what are the mops for?
• Was Omelas created the moment the child was born, or did it exist way before then? And if it existed before then, how many kids have suffered in that basement?
• Would the entire city cease to exist if the kid was cared for, or would bad things that we experience today like poverty and war?
• Are the consequences of helping the child really as bad as described?
• Are the citizens of Omelas “truly” happy?