James Baquet Ursula K. LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a story that defies easy classification. It may be a horror story, a moral tale, or something entirely different. The story begins with the Festival of Summer in Omelas. Processions move toward the great meadow near the edge of town. We hear details, without learning where the town is located, or when the story takes place. But there is no king, no slaves, and no war. “They were not barbarians.” They probably have few laws or rules, and perhaps little technology. And yet, the narrator insists, “these WERE NOT simple folk.” They are happy, yes, but that doesn’t mean they are stupid. It sounds like a fairy tale, but the narrator encourages us to “imagine it as you will.” As the processions reach the meadow, the young people line up their horses for a race. An old woman distributes flowers, which the youngsters wear in their hair. A boy plays a wooden flute. It is idyllic. But then the narrator tells us of a room underneath one of the public buildings, a room two by three feet (about 60 by 90 centimeters) in which a child — perhaps aged 6 or 10 — lives in darkness and filth behind a locked door amongst dirty mops and a rusty bucket. It is feeble-minded, and is afraid of the mops. It eats only half a bowl of corn meal a day, and feels it must have done something wrong, crying out, “Please let me out. I will be good.” It is naked. It is horrible. But the good people of Omelas, young and old, know that all of their happiness depends on the misery of this child: their beautiful city, their friendships, their children’s health, the wisdom and skill of the people, even the weather. Some visit the child, but most don’t. Some are shocked, and think of turning it loose, but they realize that this small kindness to one child would mean great unhappiness to the thousands. And so they are not permitted even to give it a kind word. They are not free, either. But some, unable to bear the tension any longer, walk out down the town’s streets, through its gates, across the farmlands, and towards the mountains. Where they are going cannot be described. “But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas.” Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. mentally weak 2. uncivilized people 3. extreme unhappiness 4. parades 5. makes impossible 6. mental strain 7. in a perfect setting 8. without clothes 9. old and covered with a red coating 10. dirtiness | 