An Analysis of the Story the Ones who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula LeGuin

True happiness is relative. Often people decide that certain achievements will bring them to be happy (such as money, family, and friends). However, sometimes the means by which people strive to achieve these goals are evil or immoral. This contradiction is depicted vividly in the story "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula LeGuin, in which one towns entire success is based on one boys suffering. Another prime example of the misguided motive is the story "Greasy Lake" by Tom Boyle, in which three bad boys come to terms with their unhealthy and destructive behavior. The two stories present very similar points, with slightly different lessons. While the people of both Omelas and Greasy Lake have misconceptions about their supposedly happy lives, they differ in that the bad boys of Greasy Lake learn why they need to change their behavior, while the people of Omelas are already aware and continue to accept the evil root of their happiness.

The life that the people of Omelas live is one of mindless happiness. Everything in their world is given to them, and no one suffers. No one has any problems. However, at the stem of the happiness is a tormented boy locked in a broom closet. Without his suffering, the towns contentment cannot continue. All of the people of Omelas are made aware that he is there, and they have to choose to live with that knowledge. Similarly, the boys of "Greasy Lake" are living a life that they think is happy. They think they are "bad", because they drink, do drugs, and get in fights. In both cases, they are merely ignoring the possible consequences of their actions because they are so intent on fulfilling their goals. They fail to realize that happiness can never be rooted with something degenerate. The difference between the two situations is that the people of Omelas arent doing bad things to themselves. They are letting someone else suffer for them, which makes it easier to blind themselves from what they are doing. They convince themselves that one persons misery is perfectly acceptable if it brings happiness to thousands. However, many people in the town still feel the underlying guilt. The boys of Greasy Lake, in contrast, are ruining their own lives. They engage in negative behavior, making bad decisions and doing stupid childish things to seem cool. However, not only are they getting hurt by their bad actions, but other people are affected as well. They fight a biker and almost beat him to death because of a minor argument, and then attempt to rape his girlfriend. They eventually realize that they have to come to terms with their own stupidity, and stop floundering. or they will destroy themselves by ending up in prison or dead. The people of Omelas have a moral obligation to stop the torture of someone else to end their own guilt.

In both of these stories, people are faced with the decision to change their situations. When the people of Omelas are old enough to understand, they see for themselves the tortured boy in the closet. They then have to choose whether or not to live with the knowledge of the childs torment. The boys of Greasy Lake can see that what they are doing to themselves is hurtful, but until one fateful night they dont care so they continue to live life as if they are invincible. Both groups would rather leave things the way they are so that they can take the easy road, rather than act responsiblly. However, each group does change significantly by the end of the stories. In the case of Omelas, some of the people who see the child feel guilty. Their sense of morality compels them to walk away from their mindlessly happy world. They do not believe it is right, but they wont take any action to fix the problem either. They remove themselves from the situation. The boys of Greasy Lake, on the other hand, are given a rude awakening as to how truly uncool they are, and begin to see the stupidity of their actions. They make the first stride to change by refusing to party with two girls they meet at the lake the night they fight and almost kill the biker. As they look upon the girls, they have a moment of self-realization and gain perspective. They begin to see how self-destructive their previous actions have been. Whether or not they continue to change for the better, they have at least begun the trek toward living a better life.

People every day are faced with choices, from things as simple as whether or not to take a shower, to things as controversial as whether or not to kill someone. We all have to choose our own personal path. The most important part of our decision is whether or not we see the truth behind which road we take. It is important to believe in what we do, and to realize whether the end, however good it may sound, really justifies the means by which we take to get there. This is what separates good from evil, and right from wrong. The people of Omelas arent necessarily evil, just like the boys in Greasy Lake arent necessarily stupid. But their decisions to continue to live in bad situations make them weak. Only those who choose to change the bad and move on to better things truly deserve the happiness they seek.

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