The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas Response

Okay, if this doesn't remind me of "The Lottery" then nothing does. First, the story is set up to make the town being described, Omelas, seem completely fine and dandy like sour candy. Sure there's that eerie feeling that not everything is right, but there's nothing explicit to indicate that. Oh wait, nevermind, there's the Shyamalanian plot twist. In this story's case, the town full of happiness is only happy because of their irrational belief that if they keep a young boy held in a small room and make him suffer completely, the town as a whole will prosper. Overall, the reading was heavy on details in the first half, and by the time it began to pick up, it was over and I was left not necessarily wanting more.

In trying to find similarities to this and Orwell's 1984, I kept coming up short of a connection. My mind kept wandering toward Huxley's Brave New World. In Omelas descriptions, it speaks of a place of complete happiness, where "drooz" can be taken to be even happier, where sex is normal and frequent and random. Both have their dark sides to their externally pleasant societies. Omelas has the poor boy in the filthy room and Brave New World has its questionable ethics as to its advancements in science and civilization stability.

This entire piece is a buildup to its climactic conclusion about the boy in the room, meaning that everything before this revelation is an atmosphere of uneasiness and an increasing feeling of "what's around the corner?" This feeling can be very effective in many works, especially if what is found around the corner proves to be uniquely surprising. While Omelas had that anticipatory vibe, it's payoff wasn't exactly memorable, to me at least. From what I can take, the story's theme touches upon whether one's actions or suffering contributes to the group as a whole.

And now for the Socratic Seminar Questions...

1. What makes this story so effective? Ineffective?
2. How would you react to seeing the little boy in the room?
3. If the town really is as happy and prosperous as it claims, does that mean juvenile torture really is a sufficient way to increase the quality of your town?
4. If so many people know of the town's horrible secret, why haven't state police stepped in?
5. Where do superstitions like this come from?