The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

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   sullymonster Teacher
   Community / Jr. College

   "But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else"

   Le Guin write a compelling story in which she really gets humans to consider their attitude towards joy.  Why are we so wary of happiness, so suspicious of things being "too good to be true"?  In this "Utopian" society, she suggests that happiness is worthy of sacrifice.  By using sentences like this, Le Guin is able to sway her readers into accept the premise that happiness is sacred - which then encourages readers to consider how much they would be willing to give up to be truly happy.  In other words, by accepting the happiness theme, readers are forced to examine their personal morality.

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   Posted by sullymonster on Thursday January 24, 2008 at 1:14 PM
   
   

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