ipl-logo

Analysis Of Ursula Leguin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

927 Words4 Pages

The late Ursula LeGuin’s short story, “the Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” simplifies and deconstructs the world that we live in, through the allegory of a utopian society based off of the suffering of one individual. LeGuin poses an ethical dilemma wherein one can either leave Omelas and turn their back on their way of living or stay and reap the benefits of the abuse of one. They all understand that, “their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children,” and much more, “depend wholly on this child's abominable misery” (LeGuin, 3). Plato’s allegory of the cave best exemplifies the notion that for some, ignorance is bliss, no matter what the truth may be. This concept can also be attributed to the ones who choose to stay in Omelas. As the freed man who …show more content…

To the ones who stay and live in contingent bliss, the ones who leave are ruined by harsh truth. It is easy to stay in the cave and be decidedly ignorant of one’s surroundings as long as it is seemingly a utopia. Utilitarian’s, however, believe that not only is this not the work of ignorance, but that it is the right thing to do. This one child’s suffering is vastly outweighed by the pleasure of the entire town of Omelas. The math is simple: one versus many. Because Utilitarian’s believe that, “our prime ethical obligation is to choose the action available to us that is likely to create the greatest balance of good effects over negative effects,” the problem of Omelas is not even a problem, and those of the Utilitarian mindset would gladly stay (Binder, 2). Some people, however, walk away. Even though they cannot fix the problem, they can absolve themselves of guilt and eliminate themselves from the equation altogether. This closely aligns with Kantian thinking, because our intrinsic human

Show More
Related

  • On Communication By Bohm Summary

    785 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Allegory of the Cave”, Plato’s idea of the human who escaped the cave, but came back to tell about his learnings but the other people in the cave did not want to listen to him since they believed that the cave was the real truth and did not want to be educated about the outside

    Read More

  • The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Literary Analysis

    1093 Words  | 5 Pages

    The author gives the reader the question of if he/she would be able to live in their perfect utopia if they had the knowledge that a young child was having to suffer in exchange. The possible political stance behind this work leads one to question it more and wonder if there is such thing as our own Omelas in maybe a smaller less harsh form. “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas” is a very powerful work, and once analyzed, could potentially lead to questions about our presence in the world that we live in

    Read More

  • Comparing Plato's Allegory Of The Cave And Stranger Than Fiction

    1140 Words  | 5 Pages

    Just like the prisoner of the Cave, Harold Crick breaks free from his chains of naivety and widens his vision to become truly enlightened. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the prisoners are described as being “chained so they cannot move, and can only see before them” (Plato 1). These chains are notable not only because they are the restriction that keeps the people

    Read More

  • Philippa Foot Arguments Against Utilitarianism

    1325 Words  | 6 Pages

    Caleb Stephens April 15, 2017 Introduction to Philosophy The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that Philippa Foot’s objection, raised to her own argument against utilitarianism, is correct. Her initial thesis is that benevolence, while the foundation of utilitarianism, is an internal end of morality, rather than the ultimate end of morality. The possible objection to this that there must be some overarching reason behind morality, which must imply a form of consequentialism. The response she offers is that there should be some other form of morality, which is a weak argument, as it does not provide an alternate conception of morality itself.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between The Matrix And Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1232 Words  | 5 Pages

    “An unexamined life is a life not worth living” - Socrates. Both ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory of ‘The Cave’ develops a question of reality and how the world is perceived. This can be closely connected to one of the great Greek philosopher’s sayings where an “unexamined life is a life not worth living”. Socrates states this due to the increasing number of citizens who lived their lives without questioning the world around them. ‘The Matrix’ and Plato’s allegory explore how when the world is properly examined the outcome is a new understanding and perception of life.

    Read More

  • The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Summary

    1509 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is a short story by Ursula K. LeGuin that is about a utopian city Omelas during its Festival of Summer. The city is known for its happiness and beauty. The Festival of Summer is where the whole town of Omelas joins together to celebrate. They have processions throughout the city celebrating along with a festival race. Bells clamor and people are singing and dancing to the music.

    Read More

  • Omelas Quote Analysis

    870 Words  | 4 Pages

    The basic needs in life are considered as water, food, and reproduction, and the simple wants are “central heating, subway trains, washing machines, and all kinds of marvelous devices” (p.2). The destruction to society could be one’s remorse for the child’s suffering. If one shows sympathy for the child and it is released from the basement, the city’s beauty and happiness will vanish. The child could represent selfless because its sacrifice is for the prosperity of Omelas. Le Guin explains that the society is a bargain between happiness and

    Read More

  • Analyzing Plato's 'The Allegory Of The Cave'

    773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Plato tells us that the prisoners are confused on their emergence from the cave and that the prisoners’ will be blinded once they had been freed from the cave. After a period of time they will adjust their eyesight and begin to understand the true reality that the world poses. The stubbornness to develop a different perspective is seen in much of today’s society. The allegory of the cave is an understanding of what the true world is and how many people never see it because of their views of the society they are raised in.

    Read More

  • Plato's Views On The Allegory Of The Cave

    1377 Words  | 6 Pages

    1) In the allegory of the cave, Plato’s main goal is to illustrate his view of knowledge. A group of prisoners have been chained in a cave their whole lives and all they have ever been exposed to were shadows on the wall and voices of people walking by. The prisoners in the cave represent humans who only pay attention to the physical aspects of the world (sight and sound). Once one of them escapes and sees the blinding light, all he wants is to retreat back to the cave and return to his prior way of living. This shows that Plato believes enlightenment and education are painful, but the pain is necessary for enlightenment and it is worth it.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Truth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    705 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two truths can be contradictory, but that does not make them any less true. The truth is just the way people perceive, or want to perceive truth. Plato, a Greek philosopher from the Classical Greek era, wrote Allegory of the Cave. Allegory of the Cave is a great depiction of perception of the truth, and how the truth can be different for different people. What some people might find to be true can be false to others; however, both truths are as true as people make them.

    Read More

  • Human Nature In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave the people think that their entire reality is the shadows that they see on the walls of the cave. Plato explores the truth and criticizes that humanity does not question what is real. Plato explores that the human understanding and accepting of what is real is difficult and

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Wife's Story By Ursula K. Leguin

    740 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Wife’s Story Ursula K. Leguin is a short story describing a wife retrospective of her husband who she thought of as a loving and caring father and husband a somewhat perfect person always gentle. Yet he had a fatal flaw that led to his death that the wife failed to recognize until it was too late. Throughout the story, the wife recounts important events that led to his deaths events that should have been clues to aid her to recognize the flaw within her husband. In the story, Leguin shows us how the wife’s perception was deceiving her. She was looking at her husband but couldn’t see him for whom he really was.

    Read More

  • The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Quote Analysis

    436 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, The narrator defined Omelas as a Utopian city, where everyone in the city is filled with endless joy. The society that they have can be described as the perfect world. While everyone maintains a pleased life, there is a child that is mistreated by the town all to keep everyone happy with their lives. The child has to be locked up in a dark basement, where the child is feed every little and abused by the people in the city. If the child was not locked up and neglected the city could be in danger of losing that happiness, also in fear of the city being destroyed.

    Read More

  • Utilitarian View On Abortion

    1018 Words  | 5 Pages

    An ethical dilemma today in society is that of abortion, which one would define as a deliberate end to a pregnancy. Various arguments exist questioning if an abortion is morally justifiable. Some say the state should decide on the legality of an abortion, some politicians say the federal government should decide, and many believe it should be up to the women since it pertains to their body. In this paper, I will analyze what a utilitarian’s perspective on abortion would be. First, let’s get a clear understanding of utilitarianism.

    Read More

  • Searching For Truth In Plato's Allegory Of The Cave

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    Searching for the truth is very challenging, as the world today entrenched in lies. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” briefly tells a story about cavemen being chained on most parts of their body, restring all movement including their head, since childhood. Then, he discussed the consequences inflicted onto the cavemen, specifically their perspective towards the truth after being chained for a long period of time in the dark cave, which resembles many events occurring in a person’s daily life. Based on the discussed effects, the author argues that human beings should always seek the real meaning of truth.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Ursula Leguin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

Open Document