“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin
The truly great thing that I rediscover every time I read a UKL story is that her themes, ideas, and issues are all pertinent. Despite an ethereal feel, a fantasy-like quality to her prose, UKL is talking about things that affect our lives and our society even now. And it will be a long damn time until we evolve far enough beyond our current state before her stories are not pertinent anymore. Here is a quote from “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”.
The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can’t lick ‘em, join ‘em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe a happy man, nor make any celebration of joy. How can I tell you about the people of Omelas? They were not naive and happy children – though their children were, in fact, happy. They were mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched. O miracle!
I totally agree with UKL and Josh about the value of childlike happiness. It is also a huge pitfall of so many artists, writers, and intellectuals to believe that happiness is shallow and unworthy of recognition. I hope to never lose my awe, my sense of humor, my love of fun, or my enjoyment in the simple things. It’s something I feel is important, something I choose to maintain every day.
Anywho, despite the truth of this one quote, the story takes quite a turn after this. It is very short and so worth reading. Another great example of UKL’s brilliance.
