By the "Oilers"
Quote Chosen:
"They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it, others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery" (pg 5).
People in societies who hold a higher social position or privilege tend to turn a blind eye to injustices when they benefit from the suffrage of others. Whether or not privileged people are fully educated on these injustices, they are aware of human rights violations but neglect to find solutions if it does not interfere with their ways of living. Although the people of Omelas, in Ursula Le Guin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," recognized the mistreatment for one child forcibly held in a closet, they imposed the suffering of that child to maintain the social order of their ideal "utopian" society.
Without the suffering of this single child in the closet, the entire social structure of Omelas would crumble, and the common person would lose their comfort, good health, securities, and happiness. To balance their current status in life, the people of Omelas turned a blind eye to the child's torture and malnutrition. Every person in Omelas is aware of the conditions the child is exposed to and the harm this inflicts on the child yet, they make the choice to put their happiness over the freedom or even the well treatment of the child.
The deliberate ignorance portrayed by the people of Omelas in Guin's story is similar to the attitudes of modern 21st-century societies in Canada, the United States, and other populous countries such as China. Often, there are serious infringements of persons' rights and violations of fundamental human rights to achieve the visions of the upper- and ruling class. For example, forced labor in Chinese concentration camps is the reason people in North America have relatively inexpensive Nike shoes. Similarly, the detention of migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border as well as the incarceration rates in U.S. state prisons is used to keep certain racial and social groups in control by the federal government. The suffering of a few becomes the cause for the joy of many who continue to benefit from these systems. As a society, the people of Omelas collectively choose their happiness and consider it more valuable than the life and well-being of the child.
Guin’s use of a child prisoner is heavily symbolic and highlights the hypocritical and dichotomous nature of the people of Omelas. They recognize that letting the child free will lead to the disorder and ruin of perfect order of their society. It is ironic that all the qualities symbolized by children, such as innocence, purity, and joy, occur in the Omelasians life by keeping a child in horrible conditions. Depriving the child of his innocence is through keeping him isolated, taking his purity away by through neglect, and finally, stripping him of any joy by placing an entire society's prosperity on his shoulders.
The main persuasive device used in the chosen quote is a pathological appeal to the emotions of the readers. The author intends to elicit a two-fold response from the readers. Thus, the quote starts by talking about an "it"(p. 5). We know that the "it" is a child but for the most part, the author has successfully dehumanized the child (p. 5). By relating it to an object, the child has become this other separate entity that is different from Omelas and its inhabitants.
Le Guin uses imagery to show the sheer contrast between the citizens of Omelas and the child being held captive. The description of Omelas paints a euphoric place that should feel joyful, yet you can still sense the darker tone. Phrases like "kindly weather" and "abundance of their harvest" depict the liveliness and vibrancy of the city whereas, the pronoun "it" points towards the lifelessness of the entity being talked about (p. 5). Imagery is used for evoking an emotional response and using such descriptions that engage the senses of sight, taste, sound, touch, and smell. The beauty of Omelas draws us into the details, and they keep us attached to the affluence of its citizens. Additionally, the happiness of Omelas is ironic. On the surface, Omelas are happy. Yet, through the reveal the child's misery, their happiness then shifts to a feeling of being people but with them being aware that their happiness depends on the misery of the child, their happiness seems more forced and imposed on them. Even if they are not fully content and happy with the way their society works, they must be grateful for the happiness the child allows them to have, even if the fate of the child disgusts them.
Greed of the masses is a potential root cause for the abuse of the child. The structure of Omelas is based on greed; greed for their own happiness and greed for their quality of life over any sense of quality living for the child. Even though the Omelas do not know why the child is in miserable conditions, their greed to achieve a perfect society becomes their driving force to avoid change.
In conclusion, the neglect of the child left in the closet beneath the city is supported by the thousands of citizens of the city of Omelas in order to maintain their social structures. Although on the outside Omelas reflects feelings of joy, content, and beauty, there is a dark truth to how that picture came to be. Paralleled to dominant societies in the 21st-century with significant inequalities, the social order of Omelas is dependent on the suffering of others. Le Guin's short story is important for understanding this social dynamic and to invoke empathetic feelings for the child's social position.