illustration of a young boy in a cage in the center with lines connecting the boys cage to images of happy people and flowers

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Student Question

What does the quote mean in the context of Omelas, and how does it relate to the story's theme and argument?

"They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy. But we do not say the words of cheer anymore. All smiles have become archaic."

Expert Answers

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In describing the citizens of Omelas, the narrator says,

They were not simple folk, you see, though they were happy. But we do not say the words of cheer anymore. All smiles have become archaic.

The narrator is concerned that we understand how nuanced the people of Omelas are. They aren't some simply happy folk who are thoughtless and ignorant. No, they are essentially everything that we are, complex and developed, except that they are happy. The narrator seems to suggest that we are not as happy as they are, that they exist somewhere in our past and that their happiness has been lost to us. The action of smiling, for example, does not occur nearly as often as it did then. Thus, there does seem to be a bit of foreshadowing; she reveals that this community does not last—that, eventually and inevitably, it turns into us. Perhaps this confirms the story's theme that happiness cannot exist without sadness and upset. Maybe it even suggests that humanity eventually prevails. If Omelas eventually turns into us, then this must mean that the abused child was brought up out of the closet. Otherwise, it alone would feel misery, and everyone else would be free to feel only happiness.

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