Introduction
Ursula Le Guin is a famous American author, most known for her fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories. Her short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, however, can be best described as a piece of dystopian fiction. This paper aims to briefly summarize the plot and the themes of this short story and relate it to the current problem of homelessness in the United States. To do that, the paper utilizes the total of five academic articles presented by the college.
Summary and Themes
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas paints a picture of an idyllic town celebrating a summer festival. All is well, and no discomfort, poverty or other problems threaten the habitants of Omelas. Yet, as it frequently is in utopian-appearing settings in literary fiction, the town hides a dark secret. All of this happiness is hanging on the constant suffering of a one child, subjected to the eternal torment. Sooner or later everyone in Omelas learns about the existence of this child, and several decide to leave Omelas, unable to continue living in such degree of privilege. Others, however, stay nonetheless, and proceed to enjoy a carefree life where they do not need to worry about where their next meal will come from. In the short story, the child acts as a scapegoat (Collins 525), the one martyr, whose suffering is, metaphorically speaking, paying for the prosperity of everyone else.
Le Guinn pointedly calls out the casual social hypocrisy and relative morality of the consumerist Western society. “To exchange all the goodness and grace of every life in Omelas for that single, small improvement” is unimaginable for most of the town’s population (Le Guinn 3). Yet the reader is never allowed to forget, that the child has not chosen such fate and is being abused by the powerful majority. Thematically, he represents the fate of all the underprivileged who have to remain in the shadows of the world that is perceived as prosperous.
Dystopia and Reality
It is a common occurrence for the dystopian fiction to feature heavily parallels with the horrors of the real life. Dystopia reflects an imagined state of society based around a great injustice or suffering. Although both of these are frequently product of author’s imagination, few imaginary societies have absolutely no base in reality. In fact, the opposite is often the case, with writers taking inspiration in the social atrocities prevalent in their time. The society of Omelas appears to be not only functioning, but perfectly happy on a surface level. Yet learning that all of the residents have discovered the existence of a child at some point is a chilling realization.
The semblance of real-life metaphors and the analogies between more and less privileged groups of population becomes evident when one relates Le Guinn’s short story to the problem of homelessness. Like many topics tied to social welfare and poverty, homelessness is widely stigmatized and often blamed on its victims. The homeless are perceived as deserving of their state for their supposed financial irresponsibility, poor life choices or even otherness (Gorfido 109). Gorfido’s article in particular discusses the ways in which the United States system has failed homeless people with persistent mental illnesses. With little to no appropriate support networks, mentally ill victims of homelessness are forced to live on the margins of society in a comparable way to the torment of the child. To bring the comparison further, the existence and turmoil of such people is an open secret in the society. Their existence is well-known to everyone in a more privileged position, yet people consistently decide to look the other way.
The Ghostly Disease of Rural Homelessness
The phenomenon of homelessness becomes even more of a ghostly social disease when applied to rural areas of the United States. United States is an incredibly urban centric society, which affects the prioritization within the existing studies of the homelessness in the country (Yousey and Samudra 1). Generally, researchers tend to agree, that a homeless person is someone without a permanent nighttime residency and living structure, who has to reside in buildings and constructs not suitable for life or live outdoors. Rural homeless tend to rely on their social networks such as friends and family members to find places to stay, often cars and abandoned buildings (Yousey and Samudra 12). The lack of research into this phenomenon is dangerous as rural and urban homelessness cannot be equated since there are far less opportunities for finding shelters in rural settings. This is how the rural homelessness becomes the ghost problem, that social policy makers are aware of but choose to ignore. It calls for unfortunate parallels with Le Guinn’s story.
Half-Informed Complacency
But how do privileged groups in real life benefit from the ostracization and struggles of the homeless people? Residents of Omelas knew that their prosperity and happiness is dependent on the suffering of the child and did not want to lose their eternal bliss. Dystopia allows for dramatic simplifications that quickly get the point across, but the real-life anatomy of privilege is much more complicated than that. And yet, there are unpleasant and cynical explanations for why little is being done to effectively combat homelessness, despite the common awareness of the severity of the problem. Similarly, the people of Omelas knew about the fate of the tormented child but decided that they are willing to pay this price for their idea of the common good.
Some of these are related to the difficulties and limitations that are associated with any scientifically significant study of homelessness. When the subjects are severely marginalized people, achieving necessary conditions for the research is incredibly hard. Researchers might experience difficulties with establishing trust with their subjects, as well as sufficiently guarantee their honesty. Scientists that wish to study homelessness experience recruitment and retention difficulties, uncertainty about the appropriate research compensation and the need for complicated safety protocols (Ojo-Fati 2). The fact that a large proportion of the homeless population experiences substance abuse problems and mental disorders does not help with the facilitation of the process.
However, other reasons behind insufficient research into homelessness and lack of housing protection are less discussed and reflect on the ugly sides of the contemporary society. An effective housing protection would involve measures that some political and social circles might consider radical. Risk groups are often difficult to identify and predict within laboratory conditions, for example university students often end up in this position (Hallet and Crutchfield 8). Governmental control of the housing market and improved social welfare benefits are necessary to secure the living situation of adults and children from vulnerable groups. This would mean increased government spending in the area of social welfare which historically provokes opposition from those who do not believe that the vulnerable are deserving of extra support. Parallels with the short story in question are, once again, evident: the budget is being allocated elsewhere and the system continues to fail its homeless.
General Parallels and Conclusion
Literary commentaries suggest that Ursula Le Guinn wrote Those Who Walk Away From Omelas with an intention of the social criticism. The narrative of the story criticizes common for the Western culture romanticization of suffering and martyrdom, by scapegoating a vulnerable child, that had no say in their fate. The entire city continuing to exist in harmony and, effectively, paradise, in an exchange for safety and basic rights of its one member is, no doubt, an injustice. Dystopian fiction allows Le Guinn to hyperbolize the level of wealth inequality and power imbalance that exist in the American society, but the root of the problem lies in the real world itself. The homeless are the scapegoat of the modern prosperous society, with its advanced healthcare and high technological development. Society turns a blind eye on them, because it is convenient and does not result in any repercussions, with the victims being too powerless to stand up for themselves.
In conclusion, the parallels between Those Who Walk Away From Omelas and the homelessness issue are undeniable. Vulnerable groups remain roofless, while the rich members of the society increase their wealth and the government continues to reduce its spending on social welfare. Such state of affairs is hugely unethical and might be considered the failure of all the ideals America stands for.
Works Cited
Collins, Jerre. “Leaving Omelas: Questions of Faith and Understanding.” Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 27, no. 4, Fall 1990, p. 525. EBSCOhost, Web.
Gorfido, Ashley. “Homeless and Helpless: How the United States Has Failed Those with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness.” Journal of Law & Health, vol. 34, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 107–129. EBSCOhost, Web.
Hallett, Ronald E., and Rashida Crutchfield. “Homelessness and Housing Insecurity in Higher Education: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Research, Policy, and Practice.” ASHE Higher Education Report, vol. 43, no. 6, Dec. 2017, pp. 7–118. EBSCOhost, Web.
Le Guinn, Ursula. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas: A Story”. A Wind’s Twelve Quarters Story. Harper Perennial, 2014, pp. 1-4. Web.
Ojo-Fati, Olamide, et al. “Practical Issues Regarding Implementing a Randomized Clinical Trial in a Homeless Population: Strategies and Lessons Learned.” Trials, vol. 18, July 2017, pp. 1–10. EBSCOhost, Web.
Yousey, Amelia, and Rhucha Samudra. “Defining Homelessness in the Rural United States.” Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy, vol. 13, no. 4, Oct. 2018, pp. 1–24. EBSCOhost, Web.