Walking away from Omelas
When being asked about the question that whether I would walk away from Omelas, I may answer without hesitation as the time I saw the poll. If I was a citizen of Omelas, I would walk away and never come back. Just think about human nature, and then you will understand why I think so.
“The need for self-preservation” (Thomas Pg.4) let people to think about themselves before others if they are in trouble. This brings out a more “ruthless aspects of human nature” (Pg.4) - selfishness. Honestly, I am selfish, too.
There is no doubt that Omelas is a utopia. Le Guin describes it as a place where everyone lives a happy life (1). If I only consider myself, you might say that I should stay here. However, I will choose to leave. As we all know, while the citizens are happily celebrating the festival, the little child is suffering from hunger and pains. Can I ignore it, pretending that I have never heard of the poor little child and go on enjoying every day? Of course I can’t. I’m not a hypocrite, so I must be guilty for the child’s unfortunate childhood. Though Le Guin says that, after weeks or years, this guilt decreases for the people who face paradox after having seen the child, I don’t believe that my guilt will decrease as time goes by as well(4). You see, no one would like to stay in such a horrible place day and night by himself. And with morals like ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’’ (Analects of Confucius 12, 2), how can these people get the view that it’s better for the child to stay at the cellar than to be released? The only explanation is that they hope to persuade themself to eliminate their guilt. I don’t want to be dishonest with myself like these people who are deceiving themselves, as well as others, into having no more guilt. So, the result will be that whenever I feel happy, I will be reminded that there still is a child opposite from me. Unless I refuse to accept this kind of happiness, I will be restricted by the guilt and never find real happiness.
Even though I’m guilty, I wouldn’t stay there to find the way that can help the child get equality, respect and freedom. I know that is unrealistic and idealistic. Selfishness is in human nature, and nobody would agree with me to break their utopia for only one child. I don’t want to be a sinner that destroys thousands of, or even millions of people’s dream, nevertheless, I also don’t want to be the child’s own saint and hero, since that would let me feel guiltier. What I want is just one thing, and that never changes--my happiness. Even though nobody in Omelas knows that what kind of society lies outside the city, to leave here, I still have half a chance to lead to a real utopia. There is no difficulty in making a choice between having nothing and having just a bit more than nothing. A half means a hope while zero indicates despair and total loss. Maybe it’s hard to find a society that I have been dreaming of, but where there is a dream, there is a hope. I believe, finally, that I can find a world that satisfies me.
I’m just an ordinary person and, as I have said, I cannot act altruistically. No matter what I do, I would think about my own happiness first. Because of this, if I was a citizen of Omelas, I would just walk away towards the unknown world to find a better place and never come back.
Work Cited
Thomas, David. “Cunning, deceitful, utterly selfish.” Daily Mail 27 July 2001: Pg. 4. LexisNexis. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
Le Guin, Ursula K. “The one who walk away from omelas” n.p. n.d.
The Analects of Confucius. London: Penguin, 1979
