It’s a saga that has haunted our world, the people and recently this future father. The basic premise of LeGuin’s narrative is a city, Omelas, surrounded by beauty, peace, fun and excitement – sea on one side, mountains on the other. Parades move through the streets, children dance in green fields, and there are smiles on every face. No wars, no government, no police, few laws. The people of this city are on equal footing with each other; therefore, they enjoy their lives together.

BUT . . . deep in the heart of Omelas, hidden beneath the splendor, is a closet with a child inside. This child is kept in misery, fear and pain. He shares the tiny space with a couple of dirty mops that scare him into the corner. He is fed daily, but no kind words are spoken to him; he is often kicked and prodded. Those who see this child are disgusted, yet they ignore his situation, never returning to give aid.

Why does this happen? The point of the child in this city is balance. Yes, balance. The blissful people of Omelas believe that “their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery.”

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They believe that if they help this child, they will lose everything they hold close. The people teach their children at young ages to accept this evil. It does not matter if aiding the child is the right thing to do – they are selfish and greedy.

As I sit late at night thinking about my son, who will be born in a short four months, my question is simple . . . is this world Omelas? Though on a larger scale, people continue to ignore the miseries within this world. We can compare many troubling issues to the child in LeGuin’s story. Discrimination, hate, neglect, abuse and other evil issues have been greatly ignored for centuries. We believe that these are things that just happen, no matter what we try to do. We believe we have no control of these things; people have their free agency.

Are we NUTS? We created and continue to nurture these problems. Slavery, racism, child abuse and holocausts do not just happen. We start and allow these evils to happen.

We are at fault. We, actually our fear, are the ultimate problem. We’re afraid to change painful things in this world for fear of an unbalanced world. The way we teach our children about life is what determines the direction of this world. LeGuin speaks of the children who view the wretched child going home in tears or with anger but soon realizing that this paradox must be for the sanctity of their lives. She hints at the idea that one must know bad to know good. LeGuin then questions the reader, “Do you believe?”

I do believe that we must understand the bad issues to appreciate the good things we have, but I do not accept the idea that we cannot do anything about such evil things. The conclusion to LeGuin’s upsetting tale gives me hope. Some of those who visit the imprisoned child do not accept; rather, they leave. They immediately turn and walk out of the city, heading toward the ominous mountains, hoping to get away from the terrible pain and depressing paradox this city holds. BUT…I have one more question. Why didn’t they do anything about it first?