Read the ones who walk away from omelas
Make a comment here to share your thoughts about these (or other questions), reply to a classmate’s comment, or share additional examples/thoughts about the complexities and problems (ethical dilemmas) inherent in imagining ideal societies. Jemisin’s “The Ones Who Stay and Fight” (both readings for Thursday’s class) Take another look at LeGuin’s short story in light of our conversations in class about the story and utopias/dystopias, David Brook’s opinion piece, “The Child in the Basement,” and N.K. What are some examples of Omelas in our current society?.Can you think if any analogy of the child in the room in our society? If so, who is the child, and who suffers at its expense?.Is ignorance bliss? Would the people in the story be better off not knowing of its existence? What would be gained from this ignorance? What would be lost?.Is it possible to have a happy/good/just society at the expense of someone else?.Why do some people walk away from Omelas? Who are these people? Where do they go?.
We also did some group work on some targeted discussion questions (which we’ll continue to discuss in class on Thursday, 9/3). If you stayed, why? To what end? If you walked away, why? To what end? This sparked some important discussions about suffering, happiness, complicity, silence, authenticity, utopias, dystopias, and injustice. We did some freewriting and discussion about whether we would stay or walk away, and why.
LeGuin’s short story, “The Ones Who Walk away from Omelas.”