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Some weeks ago, one of my friends from uni was talking about this book and highly recommended me to read it. I have to admit that I already knew about the existence of this book because of the Korean boy group BTS. According to some fans, the music video “Spring Day” is based on this book. Therefore, I became really curious to know what this book is about and I decided to read it.
The One Who Walks Away from Omelas was written by Ursula K. Le Guin and originally published in October 1973.
Plot:
The book depicts the story of a utopian city, Omelas, which is located near the sea. The population of the city is celebrating the Festival of Summer. In this beautiful city, the author remarks that the citizens are not “simple folks”. She describes them as “mature, intelligent, passionate adults” who live in an almost “fairy tale” city. In fact, she invites the readers to imagine their own definition of fairy tale city and whatever pops up in your mind is the representation of Omelas.
However, Omelas is far from being a real fairy tale and joyous city. In one of the buildings, there is a kid locked in a room with no windows. Even though the population knows about the existence of this malnourished kid, only a few have the courage to come and see him with their own eyes. Once they see him, they feel sad, angry and guilty but they do nothing to set him free because the sad truth of the story is that Omelas depends on this kid’s misery to be happy. Rescuing this kid would lead to the end of the grace, joy and wealth of the city and that is why most of the population decides to forget about the situation even if it is painful and unfair. Nevertheless, there is a small portion of the population who walks away from Omelas and never comes back. They are perhaps in search of a land of justice and equity.
My opinion:
What I like the most about the book, is that it makes you think a lot. It makes you wonder what happiness really is. We all have different definitions and opinions about the word 'happiness' which is completely normal because we all are different and we all have different points of views.
Some time ago, I talked with Mariana about this book and we both agreed that we would leave Omelas and look for another city. However, when we tried to imagine ourselves as the citizens of Omelas, our opinion changed. We realised that it is easy to say that we would leave that place because we are not actually living in that reality.
Imagine yourself living in Omelas. Would you actually leave a happy place just because of one person’s misery? If almost no one is leaving, would you be the one sacrificing your happiness? These are some of the questions that Mariana and I thought about. Yes, these questions are really egoist and I feel ashamed of myself for thinking that way but I’m just being honest and real.
Some time ago, I talked with Mariana about this book and we both agreed that we would leave Omelas and look for another city. However, when we tried to imagine ourselves as the citizens of Omelas, our opinion changed. We realised that it is easy to say that we would leave that place because we are not actually living in that reality.
Imagine yourself living in Omelas. Would you actually leave a happy place just because of one person’s misery? If almost no one is leaving, would you be the one sacrificing your happiness? These are some of the questions that Mariana and I thought about. Yes, these questions are really egoist and I feel ashamed of myself for thinking that way but I’m just being honest and real.
“To exchange all the goodness and
grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away
the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would
be to let guilt within the walls indeed.”
In conclusion, I highly recommend you read this book. Although it may have some difficult words, it is easy to read. In fact, it has a simple writing approach. Plus, it’s a short story. I read it in less than an hour. Therefore, if you don’t like long stories, this one is good for you.
Have you read this book before? What do you think about the story?
I hope you have a lovely day!
Jesika x
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