![]() ‘But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.’ ![]() Is it really true that one child’s suffering guarantees the joy of the other citizens of Omelas? Is the child’s misery really necessary for the rest of the city to be happy? This would take the story into the realm of the magical or supernatural (and Le Guin was a noted fantasy author, after all), but there is no confirmation in the story that this is the case.Ĭould the citizens’ belief that the child must suffer in order for them to be happy not be founded on some incorrect superstition, much as the villagers in Shirley Jackson’s ‘ The Lottery’ (a story with which we might productively compare ‘Omelas’) is based on an old ritual involving an annual human sacrifice that will bring about a good corn harvest? This is one of the quotations from the story which we should approach, and appraise, with critical distance and scepticism. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |