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  • Essay / Reflection on Those Who Walk Away from Omelas

    Those Who Walk Away from Omelas is an allegory in the form of a short story based on a utopian society in which exposes ideologies and philosophical theories about society and his relationship with the scapegoat. . One of the main themes of the text is the concept of happiness within the city and its inhabitants. The story begins with the protagonist explaining the setting of the town of Omela; The Summer Festival takes place and the protagonist explains the mental and physical state of those living in Omelas. They are happy. The author's philosophy on happiness is described thus in the text; “Happiness rests on a fair distinction between what is necessary, what is neither useless nor destructive, and what is destructive. In the intermediate category, however – that of the useless or destructive, that of comfort, luxury, exuberance, etc. “The happiness of the city is assured by the suffrage of a child. This child remains in a disturbing state and is confined in a small basement located under one of the city's beautiful buildings. The child who appears around the age of six is ​​in reality ten years old; this is due to the lack of food and water this child receives. However, from time to time, the door opens and on its threshold stands one or more citizens of Omelas who have come to despise the child. What I admire in the text is that the author gave the reader the opportunity to interpret the allegory of this child for themselves. My interpretation of this child and his contrast to the city is a vigorous comparison to third world and first world countries. In particular, child labor, and how the suffrage of one child leads to the pleasure and luxury of many…in this case, the entire town of Omelas. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay As a society and as individuals, we tend to close the door on topics such as poverty, slavery, how privileged we are, and the reality of how many people live in complete pain and exhaustion in order to keep us prosperous. This text, this child opened my eyes to how selfish and greedy we are as a society and made me reconsider for hours if I really practice my morals and forced me to ask myself if I am or not the person I aspire to be; since I would have a hard time giving up my luxuries for a child to be exposed to freedom, food, warmth and so much more. My hypothesis is that many of us would also find it difficult to give up what brings us happiness in order to make someone else feel the happiness we have felt since the day we took our first breath and will potentially feel until our last. As a society we boast of our unity and love for all people, but have we forgotten the poverty and child labor that exists? What are we doing to help? We turn a blind eye to a problem that, in some way, can only be solved by sacrificing things that give us pleasure, like money and technology. I would love to use the excuse of "we are too uneducated to interpret third world countries and what we can do to help them". But the harsh reality is: as a society, we simply don't care. We are too selfish. This story was published in 1974, but we can still visualize the resemblance to our world today, 44 years later. I personally believe that “Those Who Walk Away from Omelas” should be studied in Level 2 English because it provides readers with an understanding,)