The Omelas Child

A New Perspective

A new thought on The Omelas Child.

Omelas was a city state created by Ursula K LeGuin in The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. It's a Utopia, marred by one child in a lightless cellar, left to suffer. Nobody's allowed to help it or even pity it.

Here's my thought on why.

The Omelas Child is a symbol - the Shadow of Omelas, everything Omelas can never be. Intolerance. Hatred. Bigotry. Cruelty. The Child is the living symbol of all that Omelas is not. The reason why it's there is simple. They can't eliminate hate, but they can cage it.

You can cage your hate. You can control your hate. You can choose your actions to avoid acting out of hate. You can do good things, as compared to cruel things. This is why Omelas has a genuine community. Everybody helps out. Nobody suffers, except the one closed mind in town.

At least this is how I am able to read The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas without a bitter taste in the back of my throat.