Link to Reading
Wow. Omelas is such a tragic description of even the most perfect establishment in our flawed and messy world. The author rightfully calls out our skepticism at the reported peace and splendor of Omelas, because our lived experience will tell us, such things don’t come unconditionally. Rarely is the reader disappointed to be right, rarer still that their heart wish dearly that everything they know about the world they inhabit could somehow be proven untrue for even this one instance of a fictional child.
Once you’ve finished reading, you must ask yourself — If the weight of one tortured life can weigh so heavy on your soul, do you dare confront the real pain of the millions in the real world?
But the point of literature such as this is not to preach, nor prescribe a ‘correct’ course of action or moral obligation. Art exists solely to provoke one’s questioning of one’s own soul, so they may discover themselves. I wonder if this short story could do that to you.