The Ones Who Walk Away form Omelas, by Ursula Le Guin (page 2)

changeling

Google it and read it on another site Syl...

Mad Sweeney

I had read it when I was a Dub but forgot what it was about. Thank you for the reminder and link. Powerful story. More so now that I have walked away myself.

palmtree67

Jeez.

Just....Jeez.

I also walked away after 40+ years. I often think it's strange that I was born, raised, married and had children in the same city, but just walked away and without missing a single person there.

I used to think that was sad.

Now I'm not so sure.

Thanks for sharing that.

snowbird

Mercy!

I think I would be one of those who walk away.

In my book, bitter reality is preferable to fanciful illusion any day.

Goodness!

Syl

snowbird

On another site I learned that Omelas is an anagram for Salem, Oregon.

Beautiful place.

Syl

Mad Sweeney

WARNING: SPOILERS for the book American Gods below!!!

The story reminds me of the side-story of the town of "Lakeside" in American Gods in which a kobold named Hinzelmann annually sacrifices a local child which in turn gives him the power to protect the town's idyllic nature and prevent the economic decay that afflicted the entire surrounding region. There is a sort of anti-parallel there, too, as whenever another child goes missing the townsfolk believe he/she just up and walked away alone. I never really thought about this before. Maybe I'll email Neil and ask him if it was intentional.

Hopscotch

What a powerful story on so many levels. Thanks for sharing it with us changeling.

There are JWs who are so happy and smug and superior feeling in their make believe world of JWs who can't wait for billions of people to die so that they and a few others can continue living in this little make believe world forever.

Then there are those JWs who find themselves in less than desirable circumstances such as facing a terminal illness or financial ruin who also can't wait for billions of people to die so that they and a few others can be miraculously saved from their problems.

Never stopping to really consider that their kind, caring, community minded non JW next door neighbor is one of the billions they want dead, or that all those beautiful, innocent, happy little children at the local school are among those they can't wait to die.

But some of us are brave enough to walk away from this make believe world of JWs.

Hopscotch

changeling

Hopscotch: Exactly!!! :)

ziddina

What a delightful story!!! Very fitting as an analogy of the Watchtower Society...

That the happiness of the masses must be based upon the unhappiness of a very few - perhaps just one - person... The "happiness" of the "rank&file" must be based upon the unhappiness of those shunned, rejected, or who have seen thru the WTBTS' lies, and have rejected THEM...

I don't know whether I'd walk away or not...

I do know one thing...

I'd like to sneak into that closet, spirit the child out of "Omelas", and get the child to an outside world where it might have a better chance at happiness...

And if that wrecks the false-faced 'happiness' of "Omelas", then so much the better...

Zid

brizzzy

It had kind of the same tone as Lois Lowry's "The Giver" (another book to which JWs can draw a lot of parallels). And also "The Lottery", a short story by Shirley Jackson.

The Ones Who Walk Away form Omelas, by Ursula Le Guin

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