Would you be able to live with yourself if you knew that your happiness depended on the suffering of a child? In the story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, written by Ursula K. Le Guin in 1973, the reader is asked exactly this question. When you build a utopian society with a beautiful sea view from any house, something is bound to go wrong, we have learned throughout history that there is no such thing as a utopian society, although many have tried to create their own selfish version of their l Utopia always seems to fail. Behind every utopian society there is always some kind of great sacrifice that is made to make the utopian society run smoothly and smoothly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayIn this tragic story, in what seems to be a perfect place to be, hides a child who has been locked in a cage for years with tiny food and water, and left to live in his own filth, sex not coming never discovered as a reference to the child. The suffering of the child is made to represent how cruel justice can be and how precious happiness in life truly is. The author also explains how this is no ordinary utopia, there are many lavish parties and festivals, fueled by lots of alcohol, where mass orgies take place and many religious activities outside the temples. This short story forces you to stop and ask yourself some very moral and basic questions, including: Would you allow yourself to have happiness not only for yourself but for your city as a whole, because of the suffering of a single child? Could this really bring you real genuine happiness knowing that your happiness is only caused by another person? Looking from a further point of view, the main and broader theme of this story boils down to the individual-society relationship. In Omelas, the happiness of society as a whole is valued above that of the child locked beneath the city. No other characters are treated as individuals. The other characters can be divided into two categories: those who distance themselves from Omelas and those who do not. This has a homogenizing effect on the population. Would you be able to join a society completely based on the suffering of one child, would you be able to distinguish the thin line between your happiness and the suffering of another? It is very clear from the beginning of the story that it is fictional, but the author shockingly brings the utopia to life as you read. The story shifts abruptly from the description of the beautiful utopian society to the suffering of the poor child. The narrator strangely describes “Do you believe? Do you accept the party, the city, the joy? NO? So let me describe something else.” This quote is extremely important because it explains how scapegoating this poor child is what makes utopia possible, this is also a great example of how happiness is achieved without any kind of suffering. The fact that the child and utopia are so close but at the same time so different is very ironic and represents a powerful metaphor to explore how deeply the pain and suffering we feel as human beings is rooted in our DNA. From a broader perspective of this story you can almost feel how much our human condition has brought us closer to this “imagined” society. In many historically great civilizations they were and were rooted in profound suffering. The best or should I say worst example of this was Hitler's genocide in the mid 19th century, he gained enormous power in these times and almost at one point ruled the world, Germany was destined to prosper more than=)