The ones who walk away from omelas explained

They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. The conclusions are left to the reader - you built this utopia, remember?Д«ut not everyone can endure it. And this is the price you pay.Д¬an you accept the price? Is the abject suffering of one worth the trade off for prosperity of all others? Especially when the suffering is without explanation to the sufferer - and is contrasted against their vague memory of this not always having been the case, and of them not knowingly having done anything to вЂњdeserveвЂќ it (whatever you imagine that might possibly be)? Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this childвЂ™s abominable misery.вЂќДЄnd so this is Omelas.

It is fed once a day and occasionally the locked door to its prison is opened and eyes peer at it briefly before it is locked away again, with no concept of time or reason. But, brutally, remembers love from its past and doesnвЂ™t know why it was taken away. In a cellar of one of the buildings is incarcerated a 10 year old child. The cost of the utopia is known by all, and must be borne by all - but borne most egregiously by one person in particular. As such the world the story unfolds in is somehow ours - and we must take responsibility for whatвЂ™s going to be revealed in it. If an orgy would help, donвЂ™t hesitate.вЂќДЄs a reader weвЂ™re asked to build this utopia to whatever definition of utopia we currently hold. вЂњI fear that Omelas so far strikes some of you as goody-goody. ItвЂ™s not a puritanical place though - one of the funniest lines IвЂ™ve seen in a story puts paid to that: There are people at work, people celebrating, lives being enjoyed as some sort of festival was being prepared. Omelas is briefly painted for us as a beautiful, picturesque, timeless utopia set nowhere in particular.

Discussed on the podcast Very Bad Wizards a while back, this is an uncomfortable short story with indirect but clear parallels to the world today.ДЄfter reading the story, I do recommend that you listen to the discussion on the podcast since this addresses a lot of the talking points it raises.

The ones who walk away from omelas explained