The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Literary Analysis

In the short stories â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula Le Guin and â€Å"A Modest Proposal† by Jonathan Swift, the authors use literary criticism so the reader can dissect the many different literary elements such as symbolism and vivid ironic imagery that help explain the parallel theme going on in both stories. To achieve a world with peace throughout and reach a state of utopia some moral and ethical decay will take place. Both stories have social issues that test the citizens moral and ethical beliefs throughout the story, and actually show how the society is decaying because of what they are doing. The short story by Ursula Le Guin, is about a flawless utopian society that puts all of its guilt onto the misery of a child who†¦show more content†¦She is giving the reader an image of the room the child lives. â€Å"It has one locked door, and no window. A little light seeps in dustily between cracks in the boards, secondhand to the cobwebbed window†¦ The floor is dirt, and about 3 paces long and 2 paces wide.† (Le Guin page 3) This creates a sorrow and an urge for the reader to want to aid the child. This is a result of the moral and ethic code that people of today’s time live with compared to the decay in ethics of those in the society of Omelas. This image shows what the society makes this poor child live in and the suffering the child will experience their whole life. They continue to make this child suffer and Le Guin gives the reader images of child by saying â€Å"It is feeble minded. Perhaps it was born defective or perhaps it has become imbeci le through fear, malnutrition, and neglect.† (Brandt), and it lives in it own â€Å"excrement.† (Brandt) All of the author’s use of imagery reaffirms the theme recurring throughout the story. In order for this society to work the child must stay in the dark and the rest of the society can stay in the light. What is ironic about both of these situations is the child is in physical darkness, but the society of Omelas is in cognitive darkness. The people are in the dark because they are allowing themselves to be naive and not think about how their decision will affect others. Both the symbolism and imagery convey how societys beliefs are decaying because this child has beared so muchShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Essay2374 Words   |  10 Pages 1 May 2012 Deceit of the Utopia: Analysis of â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas† by Ursula K. LeGuin What is one to make of the city of Omelas? It is a fantastical place so transcendental that the author herself struggles to properly detail its majesty. Omelas has everything— it is beautiful, technologically advanced, and bears no need for organized religion. 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