"Wondering Wednesday": Those Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin (Philosophical Fiction Review)
Synopsis:
Behind the exuberant ecstasy of a fictional city lies a dark secret necessary to maintain the Utopia.
Categorical Rankings (/⭐️⭐️⭐️):
-Pacing ⭐️⭐️⭐️: The narrator walks readers through the narrative of the story in a smooth and engaging manner.
-Theme ⭐️⭐️: The idea of happiness not being able to exist without some kind of suffering reminds me of the yin and yang concept as well as the question, Can there be peace without war?
-Overall enjoyment ⭐️⭐️: I liked the composition of creative storytelling with philosophical reflection, but I wish the topic left for the audience to discuss gave way to more complex afterthought.
Story Insights (spoilers):
I usually feel closer to the writer of a creative piece if it involves metafiction. It’s like the author is drawing me into a conversation and closer involvement in the story. This was the case with “Those who Walk from Omelas,” but the moral dilemma of whether the “born defective,” “feeble-minded,” malnourished, and ever-suffering boy should be kept in perpetual misery felt a bit flat.
Now, who am I to criticize a well-known American author? Just a girl:)
All I have to say is that after enjoying the first couple of paragraphs, I wish it was beyond the “lesser of two evils principle,” coded with: would you save the child and end the jubilance of thousands or support the thousands at the expense of the boy’s torture? Etc.
This could be an unfair judgment, as I personally have never written philosophical fiction and thus have no better ideas, but with such a striking setup and world-building, I wanted more from the conflict.
The ending is another thing I want to touch on. The closing of the rebellious departure felt like a call to action. In a world where we are constantly faced with choices of ethics and discourse of morality that are unfavorable in our enervating existence, why shouldn’t we too walk away from the mental beatings?