Michael Marc Levy <levymm@UWEC.EDU> replied:
>"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" and "The Lottery" (which was a great
>story by Shirley Jackson before it was turned into a pretty good film)
>are similar in that they book involve the concept of scapegoating, the
>idea that by heaping suffering on one person, we therefore magically
>evade it ourselves or, more realistically, at least avoid having to feel
>guilty. Scapegoating is something human beings do all the time. Jesus was
>a scapegoat. So were the Jews in WWII. So are so-called Welfare Queens today.
I'm afraid I have several small, vital differences. In the original
meaning, a "scapegoat" explicitly bears the sins of all. As best I recall
"Omelas" and The Lottery", neither was explicitly scapegoating.
And Jesus is something of a scapegoat in the Christian tradition; there are
several other cultural and historic angles(!).
>"Omelas" is a parable and should not be read as a realistic story. Le
>Guin is playing around with the old idea about "the greatest good for the
>greatest number" and taking it to its logical extreme. What if,
>magically, all the evil in the world could be heaped on one person and
>everyone else could be happy. Would it be worthwhile or would the
>injustice done to that one probably retarded child outway the good of all
>the rest. The ones who "walk away" are buying out of the system,
>refusing to accept their own happiness if it comes at the expense of
>someone else.
(Almost Precisely my understanding.)
>On one level the story can be read as a parable about the
>western world living off the suffering of the third world. On another
>level it can be read as a parable about our society's refusal to accept
>the legitimacy of the plight of the poor.
This suggests an overdose of English classes. I don't recall specifics in
the story to support either einterpretation.
>Several writers have commented on the ironic fact that, while the people
>walk away from Omelas, and refuse to benefit from the child's suffering,
>they make no apparent effort to help the child. In effect, they opt out
>of the system, but don't try to fix it.
Perhaps beside the point. It just isn't that large a story. (in wordcount
only!)
thanks,
Neil
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:10 PDT