Ursula K. LeGuin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" contains several main themes which branch out from the main conceit of utopia/dystopia. Utopia is a place or time in which everything is perfect, while dystopia is a place or time in which everything is bad or unpleasant. Despite these terms being opposites, science fiction and speculative fiction that address them are often pointing out how what seems to be a utopia ends up being a dystopia for some unplanned or unacknowledged reason. This is exactly what we see in "Omelas." The beautiful and happy scene of celebration with which the story starts, and which introduces Omelas to us, stands in stark contrast to the truth we learn about the city by the end. A seeming utopia is shown to be something of a nightmare, and the reader stands as moral judge by the end.
Branching off of the conceit of utopia/dystopia are the following major themes:
The Power of Tradition: The people of Omelas are introduced to us as a monolith, deeply seated in their ways, in their extravagances, and in their belief that the single tortured child is the key to their happiness. "The terms are strict and absolute," the narrator explains. No proof is given that there is a true correlation between their happiness and the one child's degradation, and yet still they cling to this, convinced (and deluded) that the way it has always been is the way it should always be. The power behind tradition is the fear of change, and what that change may reveal about ourselves.
The Loss of Innocence: Important to the maintenance of their way of life is the fact that everyone in the city must know the truth. So when children reach the ages of 8-12, they are shown the child (and thus indoctrinated into the tradition). At first, the children react with shock, disgust, and rage. But: "Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it." This loss of innocence—and resulting acceptance of their reality—allows them to become abiding citizens of Omelas. The narrator goes on to explain that it is in fact because of the torture of this child that they are able to feel compassion in the future. The paradoxical nature of this statement (which we are meant to feel viscerally as readers) calls into question the ways we allow violence and unkindness in our own world. In fact the narrator speaks to us directly here, saying: "Now do you believe in them? Are they not more credible?"
Faith Vs. Doubt: In the final section of the story, the narrator reveals that there are people—both children and adults—who, without speaking to anyone, walk out of the city of Omelas, into the mountains and the darkness, and never come back. While most people in the city have faith in their traditions, and trust them without questioning them, there are certain people who have doubts. And once their doubt is acknowledged they cannot possibly stay in Omelas, surrounded by the blindly faithful who never ask questions. When they walk away from the city, they find a new faith perhaps (although even the narrator is unsure) in the thought that maybe there is some other way of doing things—a truly kind world, and a truly happy one.
"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is a short story by Ursula Le Guin that employs the common literary trope of dystopia—an overly idealistic society that has reneged or collapsed on its morals. However, rather than making the dystopian features of the city of Omelas explicit, Le Guin utilizes the concept of the scapegoat to articulate dystopia as something that is often implicit and repressed rather than obvious.
The citizens of Omelas engage in hedonistic rituals that appear to have nothing to hide, and their acceptance of nudity, lack of social hierarchy or private resources, and absence of emotional restraint resemble biblical depictions of the Garden of Eden before the emergence of of "sin." Yet, Le Guin rejects the feasibility of Omelas's utopia in the twisted end of the story, when it is revealed that the keystone preventing the city's social collapse is the repression of suffering, embodied in a child held prisoner in an underground cell and deprived of basic human dignity. The existence of this child is the true crux of the story: the child functions as a scapegoat that rationalizes the darker human impulses of Omelas's citizens. Those who do not renounce this dystopian moralization and walk away from Omelas are all complacent and complicit in the child's suffering.
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