Symbolism in Omelas

In the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", Ursula Le Guin uses the symbol of a child to symbolize injustice and the way the child is treated to represent selfishness.  She also addresses the unnerving reality that we often accept unjust affairs merely because everyone else does.  The only people who refuse to accept the treatment of the child are the ones who walk away from Omelas-- the characters which represent the people in the world who question authority when they think something isn't right.  The ones who walk away represent those of us who are unwilling to turn a blind eye, and would rather give up all our wealth than be part of a corrupt community.

The child in the closet symbolizes injustice and inhumanity.  All of the citizens of Omelas seem to have accepted the idea that their prosperity depends solely on the misery of that single child.  The child is kept alone in a dark, disgusting closet, and the citizens of Omelas are forbidden from helping it or showing it any kindness because “if it were cleaned and fed and comforted. . .in that day and hour all the prosperity and beauty and delight of Omelas would wither and be destroyed” (Le Guin 601).  In this quotation, Le Guin portrays that the citizens of Omelas firmly believe that their wealth is worth the suffering of an innocent child.

The way the child is treated represents a kind of selfishness that one could say is partially driven by the will to conform.  Le Guin implies that the citizens would be a lot less likely to accept the situation if they were not surrounded by an entire community of people who encourage it.  This is expressed in the quotation “To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement: to throw away the happiness of thousands for the chance of the happiness of one: that would be to let guilt within the walls indeed” (601).  Seeing as guilt is highly discouraged in Omelas, the citizens are being taught that it would be immoral to help the child.

However, not everyone in Omelas is willing to accept this mindset.  The ones who walk away from Omelas are the ones who refuse to take part in an unjust community, and represent those of us who question authority and are not willing to comply with a community's norms if we find them immoral.  Most people are upset about the child at first, but learn to accept it.  However, “at times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact, go home at all.  Sometimes also a man or woman much older falls silent for a day or two, and then leaves home.  These people go out into the street, and walk down the street alone.  They keep walking, and walk straight out of the city of Omelas, through the beautiful gates" (Le Guin 602).  We, as people, cannot run into the world and save every single person who needs help.  What Le Guin is encouraging us to do is to stop contributing to the selfish and cruel nature of our communities.  The ones who walk away “seem to know where they are going" (Le Guin 602).  I think that Le Guin is telling us that we all have an innate sense of right and wrong, it's just a question of whether we choose to ignore our morals or follow them.

In conclusion, Ursula Le Guin wrote "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" to teach us about injustice, selfishness, and morality.  Selfishness can prevent us from doing the right thing, especially when you mix it with the will to conform.  However, we must listen to our ethics and do what we feel is right, not what everyone else is doing.