Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Utilitarianism

Brandon Pack
English 111 11:10
Research Paper
May 2, 2011

There are many short stories that often share a similar theme. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. LeGuin and the short story titled “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, share a similar theme I think represented very well in both stories. Both stories are about the overall happiness of the majority of the people living in the towns. But this happiness doesn’t come without sacrifice and in both stories a major sacrifice has to happen for the overall happiness of the community to take place. The two short stories similar theme they share is, accepting and practicing a Utilitarian view. Because both stories sacrifice one for the greater good of others, is Utilitarian.…show more content…
He is suggesting that we live like the people in Omelas today, and we don’t “help the child.” To live in the world we live in today, takes a little bit of Utilitarian thinking. There is constantly people suffering for the overall happiness of our community and not too many people seem to stop and help. Jerre Collins is suggesting that we live in Omelas today because we have people working hard labor for next to nothing to make us the things and materials we use everyday without thinking about the people who might be working in sweat shops to get us our things. For example Nike factories exploit their workers and pay them bare minimum to make shoes in their factories in other countries. We seem to get on with our lives and not think about the people that might not have it as good as we do, not think about the boy in the closet, we just live…show more content…
LeGuin sacrifice innocent people for the greater good of the community. Without these sacrifices these towns would not work, best representing the Utilitarian theme they share. They sacrifice one, so that the others living in the town can be happy. Everyone that lives in both these towns in these stories knows exactly what needs to be done in order for their towns to work and they still go through with it. In both stories the people of the towns are alright with sacrificing one so that everyone else can be happy. We as moral human beings know that this is wrong, but that is exactly a Utilitarian, whatever brings the most overall happiness even if that means sacrificing an innocent. Both stories represent the Utilitarian theme in their own way and are very powerful moral stories.

Works Cited
Brandt, Bruce E. “Two additional antecedents for Ursula LeGuin’s ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ (essays)” ANQ 16.3 (2003) S/T Literature Resource Center. Web. 26. Apr. 2011
Collins, Jerre. “Leaving Omelas: Questions of Faith and Understanding.” Studies in short fiction 24.7 (fall 1990): 525-535. Rpt. In Short Story Criticism Ed Joseph Palmisano. Vol. 69. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Research Center. Web. 2. May 2011.
Davidson, Suzette M. Study of The Ilaid. Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Santa Barbara.
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and