Exploring Psychological Themes in Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Delve into the allegorical elements of Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" through discussions on various psychological themes such as unconscious, guilt, happiness, and more. Analyze the presence of vices, the role of scapegoats and rituals, and the profound act of walking away from Omelas. Compare the narrative to Plato's Allegory of the Cave and contemplate the present-day implications of the story.
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Ursula LeGuins The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas HMXP 102 Dr. Fike
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwhJHleF hMU
Writing in Class: Allegory (5 min.) It is possible to read Omelas as an allegory (each detail in the story corresponds represents a single point). In that spirit, what do the following details represent? Write down your ideas. The sea Omelas The festival Basement/closet Child in the basement Walking away from Omelas
T-Chart: Like Plato or Not? Do you see Omelas as a version of Plato s Allegory ? In other words, is leaving the cave like leaving Omelas? How may this be the case? Do you see similarities and differences between the two tales?
Psychological Themes LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" may be a version of "The Allegory of the Cave," but it adds various psychological themes. Let s talk about each one. The unconscious The shadow The role of scapegoats (next slide) Fertility ritual Guilt The transition from innocence to experience Happiness Individuation Question: How does each one work in the story?
Scapegoats and Ritual Scapegoat = a person who carries a community s collective guilt. Ritual = an activity that has been severed from its original meaning. Is keeping a child in a hole an example of a scapegoat ritual? Has it continued even though it is divorced from its original meaning or purpose?
Vices The story also has sex, drugs, and alcohol! The only thing missing is rock-and-roll! Question: What is the role of these things in the story? For example, do they anesthetize the citizens of Omelas keep them from doing inner work?
Walking Away What does walking away from Omelas represent? Which is the better option--staying put or walking away from Omelas? Is there a difference between LeGuin s view and the narrator s view?
Present-day Application In what ways is our country like Omelas? For example, what corresponds to the child in the basement?
A Binary Universe The idyllic situation in Omelas, says the narrator, depends on "the existence of the child" (par. 17). For example, how can we be rich if we do not make somebody poor? LeGuin's story gets at this difficulty. We live in a binary, predatorial universe. Is the hidden child the Third World or the poor in our own country (or whatever we seek to hide, whatever would contradict our superficial respectability)? What do you think? Do we have scapegoats in the United States?
What about you? We have three categories: Those who walk away from Omelas Those who stay behind The child in the basement ? Question: Which of these categories best describes you? Is there a missing category? (At the ?, think Plato.)
Narrator Do you get the impression that the narrator is just fantasizing? For example, look at the language in par. 5: miracle, fairy tale, verb tense (conditional: would be ). If so, what are the psychological implications? Is what the story says is happening in Omelas actually occurring only in the narrator s mind and in our own? Is the story, therefore, a little parable about acknowledging the shadow ?
Happiness, par. 5 Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive. Necessary Neutral Destructive Questions: What do you make of this statement? Can t something be necessary AND destructive? Are these concepts the only ones that relate to happiness? Is Plato s concept of the good in the background?
Another Interesting Statement Par. 4 suggests, Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. Question: Aren t there intellectual things that are not painful? Aren t there interesting things that are not evil? What does the statement tell you about the narrator s values? Is the idea of no pain, no gain in the background?
Our Society Is it possible to be a good, happy intellectual? Is it possible for us to be wiser AND happier, or does wisdom/knowledge bring sadness? (Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. ) Cf. William Blake s Organized Innocence : Innocence: ignorance of evil and being happy despite life s ills Experience: awareness of evil and letting it get to you Organized innocence: awareness of evil but not letting it get to you The citizens of Omelas seem stuck in the first two stages, but perhaps those who walk away will achieve the third.
Final Question What would happen if the degraded and imbecile child mentioned in par. 17 were welcomed into the community of Omelas? What would be gained or lost? Might we actually be better off? Can you think of real- life analogies? (Tell students about David F s adopted daughter and her effect on the family.) END
