Ursula K. Le Guin

Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.

The story 'Omelas" was first published in 'New Dimensions 3' (1973), a hard-cover science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg, in October 1973, and the following year it won the prestigious Hugo Award for best short story.

The work was subsequently printed in Le Guin's short story collection 'The Wind's Twelve Quarters' (1975).

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Some inhabitants of a peaceful kingdom cannot tolerate the act of cruelty that underlies its happiness.

Aurore

Omelas already exists: no need to build it or choose it. We already live here – in the narrow, foul, dark prison we let our ignorance, fear, and hatred build for us and keep us in, here in the splendid, beautiful city of life. . . .

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.

kira

Their tears at the bitter injustice dry when they begin to perceive the terrible justice of reality, and to accept it. Yet it is their tears and anger, the trying of their generosity and the acceptance of their helplessness, which are perhaps the true source of the splendor of their lives.

Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive.

but to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else

Chaïmae

“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.”

“I fear that Omelas so far strikes some of you as goody-goody. Smiles, bells, parades, horses, bleh. If so, please add an orgy. If an orgy would help, don’t hesitate.”

isabella

𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮

Le Guin's writing is at once resplendent and delightfully hilarious. This short story sucks you in and spits you out with the necessity planted in you to return and return again. It begs for your response, not once, not twice, but over and over.

Jessica 

Short read but very good! Kind of traumatising icl but also hopeful? and inspiring? Read it because of the references made to it by BTS in their Spring Day music video and was pleasantly surprised! Have read it a few times - would read again! Wish it was longer tbh

eris

had to take my time and skim through it once, then come back a day later and it all made sense to me.

This will haunt me in all the ways that The Giver does.

Kate B-L

Kirsten Kim

thought provoking yet captivating, & well written yet straightforward. perfect imo

lala

This short story with a simple premise has deep implications on the world it told. In a few pages, Le Guin asks us to imagine a utopia where people enjoy the happiness and joy without pain— save for a child who is locked away, forever in pain, malnourished and devoid of freedom. Should the suffering of the child be neglected as to keep the rest of the people happy? Le Guin asks us to ponder upon this question in this short story. A great and impactful story in just a handful of pages.

zatul 

Maria

there’s so much stored in so few pages, it’s incredibly chilling and i think i won’t stop thinking about it for a while. a worthy read. 
also a recurrent thought of ursula le guin’s that i always appreciate: “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.”

Isabella 

a very short, but thought-provoking story. this story could be related in real life which makes it even more interesting and disturbing. it shows that even if we are aware of the injustices in the world, even if we feel sad and mad about it, how will we react to it if that 'injustice' is the reason we are living happily and content? it's brilliant. so impactful. very haunting. i love it. a must read!

ash b

Now do you believe in them? Are they not more credible? But there is one more thing to tell, and this is quite incredible.

Sarah Pitts

so good. 

"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."

what makes a happy story less literary or compelling? why must there be pain or sorrow or something tragic to assert that i am interesting and intellectual?

3.5/5
"The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates of considering happiness as something stupid."

A city in which the happiness is completely dependent on a child's misery. It had such a good concept, kinda wished that it was longer. This to me in a sense is a commentary on the working class, the beautification of countries/cities is fully dependent on the working class. The working class continues to live in misery while making others happy. 
“But they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child's abominable misery.”

Also, can i mention how good the ending line was???
"The place they go toward is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.”

isa/bella

is this the single best short story ever written in the entire history of mankind????? perhaps.

Good story, but somehow expected a bit more development behind it all. That’s my bad tho 

Denisse Garcia Ramírez 

Misha

Despite the not only wrong but repugnant argument, I got a lot from this short story: (1) how a crucial consideration might feel; (2) an example of persuasive principled reasoning; (3) how people fall into flawed "for all good against all evil"/applause lights.

this was the first short story i’ve read in .. maybe ever. and i loved it. took me a few paragraphs to get into the writing style but then i was hooked. not much happens and there’s a beauty in that

faye

Midori Kobayashi

this book (short story i should say) poses the ever green ethical conundrum- is the suffering one person justified if it brings a greater good/happiness to every other person ever. several moral philosophers/authors have asked this question before and while the gut instinct is always no- one does have that tiny little doubt at the back of their head that isn't the greater good of the society far more valuable than the happiness of a single person? but again can one's moral conscience actually allow them to subject someone to eternal damnation? i don't think so but this is what i will be thinking about tonight.....

A short story ultimately describing the Trolley Problem. While Le Guin credits those who inspired her, ultimately she just poses the same question in a slightly different way. She gives some detail about the setting but not a lot and ultimately the details are pretty irrelevant since they don't change the core of the situation. Also, I found her writing style awkward and long-winded. Her comment about how only suffering is viewed as intellectual and happiness as trivial did stick with me though. 

Julia

andrea

gorgeous, gorgeous writing. i need to read everything by ursula k. le guin

Jenna

howd this seven page short story make me feel more than 600+ page novels

“Omelas already exists: no need to build it or choose it. We already live here – in the narrow, foul, dark prison we let our ignorance, fear, and hatred build for us and keep us in, here in the splendid, beautiful city of life…”

“Omelas already exists: no need to build it or choose it. We already live here – in the narrow, foul, dark prison we let our ignorance, fear, and hatred build for us and keep us in, here in the splendid, beautiful city of life…”

— UKL

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

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