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The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Essay

Certainly, to be guilty simply means that an individual feel he or she is responsible for a particular misconduct or fault. Individuals can be guilty if they have gone against the principle and norm that are used to guide people in society or they have violated their own good beliefs and value. Guilt can also build up when our actions have led suffering or mistakes of other like in the Omelas. Therefore it is correct to say that there are minimal differences between the people who are walking away and those who are staying in Omelas. The individuals who are walking away are equally guilty like those who are staying in Omelas. On the general view, we can say that those who are staying in Omelas are guilty because they are in support of the immorality in place. However, people who are walking away are guilty because of their silence and their unwillingness to stand for a change it what it contributing to the unethical nature of Omelas.

Most of the time we are born and raised in a society with a specific culture, norms, and values which have a significant influence on our behavior and beliefs. Some of this cultural practices may be wrong even though they are appreciated the majority of the society. It may come to a realization that these practices may violate human life and the promote unjust behavior in the society, and we may think that the best way of overcoming this practices is by moving away from the society like the people who are walking away from Omelas. Most of us have this perception that people who do not directly take part in this cultural practices are ethical and less guilty which is not right at all. Instead of running away from the unjust practices it is our responsibility to ensure the people in the society realize what they are doing is wrong so that other generation does not suffer from our mistakes. For instance, in Omelas some people did not appreciate child’s sacrifice instead of focusing their efforts to overcome this problem, they ran away. the people who run away are guilty because like those who stay they have let this child’s sacrifice to continue despite the fact it has a negative effect on the whole society. Leaving a problem that is affecting unsolved when you have the ability to provide a solution can be considered to be unethical.

Evidently, from the story we can see that sometimes young boy and girls who go to see the child does weep at all when they go back at home even they may fail to return home. When it comes to older people, they normally remain silent and then leave their homes within two days after the incidents.

At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact, go home at all. Sometimes also a man or a woman much older falls silent for a day or two, then leaves home (Le Guin 283).

The young girls and boys do leave because they do not want to carry the burden of guilt. To them, their departure simply means that they are child’s sacrifice as staying means that they are willing to support the practice hence they move from Omelas to start a new life with new principles. The old people are the one who has stayed for a long time in the city of Omelas, and they have experienced the child's suffering together with those who survived. Their idea to leave after a long period of staying is not right. They have stayed without making an effort to ensure they are changing in such practice until their old age which is not ethical. Their stay until old age before making a decision of leaving proves their guilt. They should feel guilty letting children suffer without seeing them and taking any step of saving them for their suffering. The reason why children suffer may be because they parent are willing to sacrifice them more than saving them which proves they are guilty.

In most case, people admit their guilt when they are away from the law because when individuals are aware of the law, they normally know when they have broken it and when they are right. The same case is seen on Omelas, where people are aware of the misery of the child both who are staying and those who left.

They all know it is there, all the people of Omelas. (Le Guin282)

When you are aware of other people suffering, and you are unwilling to take a step to save them, this will be considered unethical, and you will be guilty if they suffering will bring more damage to their life because you avoided them in time of need. As will explain in the beginning that being guilty is feeling responsible for wrongdoing, therefore people who are observing misery of the child silent they are committing an offense and they should be responsible for any harm that the child is likely to suffer. The guilt should be shared among those who are staying as well as those who are leaving. Additionally, people who are leaving should consider themselves guilty because they walked away leaving the problem unsolved.

In the case where people are not aware of guilt, we can say that no one in Omelas is guilt.

One thing I know there is none of in Omelas is guilt (Le Guin 279).

In this case, there can be the difference between people who are staying and those who are leaving Omelas or they may have the same feeling towards the child. Both of them might not feel guilty about the child and leaving or staying may not have any relationship with the misery of the child. People might be leaving so that they can explore the world or change their environment for personal advantage and we cannot say that they are leaving because they are guilty. Those who are stay may be satisfied with their way of life in Omelas city, and they do not have any sense of guilt regarding the misery of the child. Maybe when they leave and get a chance to live in places where people are against child suffering it might trigger their sense of guilt and make them realize the mistakes they did while in Omelas, leaving children in Misery without taking action. Sometimes it possible for individuals to feel guilty especially when the whole society tend to have the same perception towards something and they can only realize their mistakes when they change their environment and go to a society that has people with different perceptions. Moreover, we can say that both people who are staying and leaving the city of Omelas are not guilty because they have realized their mistakes regarding misery of the child. It is clear you cannot be guilty if you have not aware of the mistake or faults you have done. However, we can say the people who are leaving Omelas have high chance to realize their mistakes compared to those who are staying.

The existence of the child and their knowledge about its existence may be the reason for their actions. We can say that is because of the existence of the child that makes the not gentle with the children.

It is the existence of the child, and their knowledge of its existence, that makes possible the nobility of their architecture, the poignancy of their music, the profundity of their science. It is because of the child that they are so gentle with children (Le Guin 283).

The people in Omelas the child they do not pay attention to the child in the basement. Most times the factors in the environment influence our action. People in Omelas do not honor the child that is why children suffering has been taken for granted. People have suffered since childhood and therefore when they grow and become old the see the suffering as a way of life that as a child you must suffer. With this perception in their mind, no one will be willing to pay attention to the misery of the child and these children will grow with the same perception hence no one will feel any sense of guilt. It is hard that people to feel guilty about most of them pass through them when they are young. Ignorance to the misery that children are going through is brought by the fact that the society has accepted it as a way of life hence there is no focus is paid to child suffering because it is seen as a normal thing by most of the members in the society. When a situation is considered to be normal in the society there is less action or no action with being taken against it especially when a majority of members in the society has accepted it as their way of life. Personally I do not find any other likelihood of staying or exiting besides demolishing the picture that is Omelas. Even at the expense of everybody else’s joy, one should not suffer alone. In moments of joy, everybody would experience the same joy. Every individual ought to have a privilege as to the manner in which they live their own life and does not have to be dictate by a number of omniscient entities.