History Literature / TheOnesWhoWalkAwayFromOmelas

** [[JustForPun You can't make an Omelas]] without [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans breaking a few eggs]].

* SadisticChoice: At the core of the story. Every citizen of Omelas, once they're old enough to comprehend the full extent of the city's dark secret and what it entails, will have the truth revealed to them and will then be offered the choice to stay in Omelas, though now with the full knowledge of the terrible price which is being paid for their own happiness, or, should they deem this truth unacceptable, leave Omelas and never return. Notably, a [[TakeAThirdOption possible third option]]-to [[LaResistance rebel]] against Omelas and try to rescue the child-is never given or addressed.

** [[JustForPun you can't make an Omelas]] without [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans breaking a few eggs]].

* MeaningfulName: Accidental variant. Le Guin said that she just got the name when she saw "Salem, OR" (that's Oregon) on a road sign and spelled it backwards on a whim, but the name "Salem" is meaningful on its own -- it has the same root word as the Hebrew word ''Shalom,'' or "peace," and may be linked to "Jerusalem", a city which among other things is associated with [[{{Heaven}} the new creation]] described at the end of Revelation. [[SalemIsWitchCountry And of course Salem is also the name of the Massachusetts town which held infamous witch trials]].
** Or much more simply: [[JustForPun you can't make an Omelas]] without [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans breaking a few eggs]].

* {{Utopia}}: Omelas is this. Subverted in that some of its inhabitants decide, once they know its secret, that it isn't worth it, and played with in the fact that the narrator essentially drops the bomb about the secret and then badgers the audience about having forced her to make such a horrible thing up for the sake of making her description of Omelas "realistic".

* {{Utopia}}: The LemonyNarrator constantly mentions how perfect the town is, but doesn't think the non-ironic, non-corny perfection is coming across to the reader, and so urges the reader to imagine their own version of a perfect place, rife with whatever they personally thinks is good and devoid of whatever they deem bad.
-->But I wish I could describe it better. I wish I could convince you. Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time. Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all.
** This is played with later when the narrator, obviously [[GenreSavvy not expecting the reader to believe]] that such a place would exist ''anywhere'' [[TownWithADarkSecret without some kind of price being paid]], eventually just drops the description of the child and what is done to it for the sake of making ''the rest'' of the town a Mary Suetopia, and essentially asks the reader: "[[YouBastard There you go, a horrible flaw in the system! Are you happy now?!]]"

* MarySuetopia: {{Invoked|Trope}}. The LemonyNarrator constantly mentions how perfect the town is, but doesn't think the non-ironic, non-corny perfection is coming across to the reader, and so urges the reader to imagine their own version of a perfect place, rife with whatever they personally thinks is good and devoid of whatever they deem bad.
-->But I wish I could describe it better. I wish I could convince you. Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time. Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all.
** This is played with later when the narrator, obviously [[GenreSavvy not expecting the reader to believe]] that such a place would exist ''anywhere'' [[TownWithADarkSecret without some kind of price being paid]], eventually just drops the description of the child and what is done to it for the sake of making ''the rest'' of the town a Mary Suetopia, and essentially asks the reader: "[[YouBastard There you go, a horrible flaw in the system! Are you happy now?!]]"

** Many dystopian stories focus on the setting at the expense of any story or character (for instance, the original ''Literature/{{Utopia}}'' had a FramingDevice but no actual plot). ''Omelas'' one-ups this idea by having no significant plot on the fictional level, but instead having a {{Metafiction}}al plot about a narrator deciding what the setting will by based on their presumptions of the audience's expectations.
** The essence of a utopia is being a happy place to live, but what is "living well" will vary depending on an individual's value. Thus, the narrator openly leaves many details of Omelas vague (such as their use of drugs or sexual norms), tells the reader it works whatever way they imagine works bests, and dismisses them as irrelevant.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: If any kindness at all is shown to the forsaken child, even something as small as a single kind word, Omelas will stop being a joyous utopia.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Any form of kindness shown to the forsaken child, even something as small as a single kind word, will cause Omelas to stop being a joyous utopia.

''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20070810183849/http://www.twinoaks.org/members-exmembers/exmembers/center/omelas.html The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas]]'' is a MetaFiction short story by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin, written in 1973.

"[[http://web.archive.org/web/20070810183849/http://www.twinoaks.org/members-exmembers/exmembers/center/omelas.html The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas]]" is a MetaFiction short story by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin, written in 1973.

"[[http://web.archive.org/web/20070810183849/http://www.twinoaks.org/members-exmembers/exmembers/center/omelas.html The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas]]" is a MetaFiction by Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin, written in 1973.

** Many dystopian stories focus on the setting at the expense of any story or character (for instance, the original ''Literature/{{Utopia}}'' had a FramingDevice but no actual plot). ''Omelas'' one-ups this idea by having no significant plot on the fictional level, but instead having a {{Metafictional}} plot about a narrator deciding what the setting will by based on their presumptions of the audience's expectations.

-->"Now do you believe in them? Are they not more credible?"

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of utopia deconstructions themselves. As readers who are used to reading dystopian literature can't possibly accept a utopia without some sort of catch, the LemonyNarrator just throws out the tortured child to satisfy the reader's inner curiosity.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Downplayed. Omelas genuinely ''is'' a {{Utopia}}, but [[spoiler:one whose existence relies on a continually-sustained act of unspeakable barbarity towards an innocent.]]
* {{Deconstruction}}: Of utopia deconstructions themselves. As readers who are used to reading dystopian literature can't possibly accept a utopia without some sort of catch, the LemonyNarrator just throws out [[spoiler:the tortured child]] to satisfy the reader's inner curiosity.
* DefectorFromParadise: The story features the titular Ones. The Ones are people who choose to leave the perfect Utopian city of Omelas of their own will because [[spoiler:Omelas' prosperity is PoweredByAForsakenChild]].
* DevilsAdvocate: At one point, the Narrator takes on that role. Aside from TheNeedsOfTheMany and UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans arguments it presents, it also proposes that since [[spoiler:the forsaken child]] is so traumatized as to be irrevocably brain-damaged, perhaps there's no reason not to extend its suffering as long as possible to save someone else from the same fate.

* FalseUtopia: Omelas is a beautiful city where everyone is happy [[spoiler:except for one child whose suffering is somehow linked to Omelas' prosperity]]. And everyone in Omelas is made aware of this at some point. The title refers to the people who believe their "utopia" isn't worth it and abandon it for parts unknown.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:Being chosen to be the one child on whose suffering the city is founded.]]

* InherentInTheSystem: In order for Omelas to function, [[spoiler:one child must be kept in absolute misery]]. [[UnreliableNarrator Maybe.]]
* ItIsDehumanizing: An IntendedAudienceReaction. The narrator refers to [[spoiler:the child]] as "it" because "it could be a boy or girl" at any time in the history of Omelas, but the effect of this trope persists nonetheless: readers understand that the child is seen more as a thing than as a person.

** This is played with later when the narrator, obviously [[GenreSavvy not expecting the reader to believe]] that such a place would exist ''anywhere'' [[TownWithADarkSecret without some kind of price being paid]], eventually just drops the description of [[spoiler:the child]] and what is done to it for the sake of making ''the rest'' of the town a Mary Suetopia, and essentially asks the reader: "[[YouBastard There you go, a horrible flaw in the system! Are you happy now?!]]"

* MetaTwist: To the {{Dystopian}} genre as a whole: the LemonyNarrator adds the twist [[spoiler:of the abused child]] strictly because [[GenreSavvy she knows that the people she's addressing will never believe that Omelas can be a utopia "just because"]] and will keep expecting a catch, because the sci-fi literature of the time was plagued with dystopias. So not only does [[UnreliableNarrator the catch possibly not exist at all]], [[{{Trolling}} she makes clear that she tossed it in there just to make the audience squirm]]. Hey, BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, YouBastard!
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: The entire basis for [[spoiler:the infusion of the child who bears the misery of Omelas so no one else has to]] is more-or-less an exploration of this trope.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The good of Omelas relies on [[spoiler:the abject suffering of one child]].
* SadisticChoice: At the core of the story. Every citizen of Omelas, once they're old enough to comprehend the full extent of the city's dark secret and what it entails, will have the truth revealed to them and will then be offered the choice to stay in Omelas, though now with the full knowledge of the terrible price which is being paid for their own happiness, or, should they deem this truth unacceptable, leave Omelas and never return. Notably, a [[TakeAThirdOption possible third option]]-to [[LaResistance rebel]] against Omelas and try to [[spoiler:rescue the child]]-is never given or addressed.

* TakeThatAudience: The LemonyNarrator makes it clear that they are aware the reader can't possibly accept a utopia without some sort of catch, so it brings up the [[spoiler:tortured child]] with an [[YouBastard "are you happy now?"]] demeanor.

* UnreliableNarrator: See above. One interpretation is that the [[spoiler: child being tortured]] isn't actually there at all and was just made up by the narrator to make the utopia seem more "realistic", the logic being that a utopia with no flaws at all wouldn't be believable.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: We learn that [[spoiler:a young child is severely mistreated in order for everyone else to be happy]]. [[SubvertedTrope However]], the narration never quite makes clear if the [[spoiler:suffering child]] is ''really'' necessary or not, or even if it actually exists in the first place, merely suggesting that ''[[YouBastard we the readers]]'' would never believe the story if not for that element. Which also makes it a bit of a [[TakeThatAudience Take That to the audience]] for them being (it’s assumed) unwilling to accept that Utopia could actually exist ''without'' such a price.
* WalkingSpoiler: It's basically impossible to discuss the major themes of the work without mentioning the [[spoiler:forsaken child]].
* WasItReallyWorthIt: Everyone in Omelas must face this question. [[spoiler:After seeing the suffering child, some people can't bear living in Omelas any more and walk away.]]
* YouBastard: The Narrator subtly takes this attitude towards the audience, who due to reading so much dystopian literature and utopian deconstructions to accept the idea that a society may truly be near-perfect [[spoiler: throws out the tortured child]] just because the readers would demand such a catch when it was unnecessary in the first place. Now the utopia has a caveat and [[spoiler: a child has to suffer]] for the sake of the audience's curiosity.