Genre: Sci-fi, Philosophical
Goodreads Blurb:
Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.
The story “Omelas” was first published in New Dimensions 3, a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won Le Guin the prestigious Hugo Award for best short story.
It was subsequently printed in her short story collection The Wind’s Twelve Quarters in 1975.
Rating: 5/5 stars
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is the first book we chose to read for the readathon #readlikeRM. It was referenced as the inspiration behind the song “Spring Day” by BTS, which is definitely on my top 5 favourite songs list, so you can imagine how much I was looking forward to finally reading the book.
In this story of only 32 pages, “Omelas” is a place where the people are filled with joy and happiness. The opening scene portrays a seemingly perfect society in which everyone is happy.
The narrator explicitly directs us to use our imagination to fill in the details of Omelas for ourselves. These following words, “the great water-meadow called the Green Fields” created a vivid image in my head that strongly resembled the field portrayed in the Spring Day MV. See how relevant it is to the story, especially once you’ve watched it?
What the narrator explains next is that the city of Omelas keeps one small child in utter degradation in a damp, windowless room in a basement. The child is malnourished and filthy, with festering sores. No one is allowed even to speak a kind word to it. The child is the price of the utter joy and happiness of the rest of the city. Their so-called happiness comes from their willingness to sacrifice one human being for the benefit of the rest.
But the narrator also notes that occasionally, someone who has seen the child will choose to not go home—instead, they walk through the city, out the gates, and toward the mountains. The narrator has no idea of their destination, but only that the people “seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.” It’s obvious that they are walking away from the most comprehensive and all-out joyous place anyone has ever known, but to them, it is a question of humanity and morality. It is to throw away the privilege they have because they know there’s someone who suffers. It’s a sacrifice they are willing to make.
The very open-endedness of the scenario allows for it to be applied to as many specific situations as people can find it fit to do. I think Le Guin didn’t intend for it to be specifically tied to only one situation, but rather as a general question of ethics, one which mainly challenges the idea of utilitarianism. It’s a satirical look at what the world has to give up and sacrifice for the greater good, for the happiness of others, and more importantly for the concept of “ignorance is bliss”.
At different times in our lives, we are met with choices where some are idealistic, some moralistic, while others of practical nature. Still, the question du jour is: Will you walk away from Omelas when it’s time to make that decision?
What I love about BTS’s songs and music videos is that they can mean different things to different people. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” asks if we can accept pain and isolation as the price of our happiness. What BTS said in the MV I believe is that pain and happiness coincide simultaneously. And I agree with that whole-heartedly. Pain, or any kind of suffering, does not last forever; it has an end, or at least it’ll change over time. Pretty much how the lyrics goes:
“The morning will come again
Spring Day, BTS
Because no darkness,
No season
Can last forever”
Mist Ghost 