A modern take on “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (Part 2)
The World According to Chandra D:
In my last post, I talked about the abuse of the sacrificial child in the fictional city of Omelas. Out of the three possible responses to the situation-accept, fight, leave/run away- I implied that the third option is only one right or moral one.
Please excuse my arrogance and inflexibility: that is my own bit of fantasy; life is never that simple.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas has invoked countless discussions and arguments since its appearance on the literary scene in 1973. It is included on the reading list of many colleges and universities in the US because it allows students to discuss the themes of morality, sacrifice, and happiness only understood as a contrast to suffering, among others.
The very fact of these discussions and arguments is proof that the short story and its message(s) are neither simple nor definitive. There are multiple interpretations of the story as well as vast and sometimes subtly different reactions to it.
To illustrate, my immediate reaction to the scene outlining the abuse of the child and his/her torment was to immediately break down in tears. I felt ashamed of the complicity of the Omelas citizens in particular, and of humankind in general, as this kind of situation exists today in numerous forms. I kept reading only because I wanted to understand the situation in its entirety, but my heart was breaking.
Perhaps I was in a particularly emotional state that day, or perhaps the shock of reading that very clear detailed passage (a contrast to the rather vague, somewhat insubstantial silhouette of Omelas and its society) aroused a visceral reaction. Whatever the reason, it was a scene that my mind flitted to several times over the next few days, prompting me to invite a few friends and relatives to read the short story and give me their impressions.
Very much like one of those college or university classrooms, I would imagine, the reader reaction and interpretation of the author’s message varied greatly. Many of my recruits were shocked by the story, and they said that they would definitely do something about the child’s situation. However, other people were actually angry with me for exposing them to the story. They had never heard of it and, frankly, they regretted that changing. [The short story is not as popular or as well-known in Quebec as it might be in the other Canadian provinces or in the US, you see.]
Marie, my best friend of over 20 years actually scolded me for what she called my tendency to read disturbing stories/articles. She told me that if she had known it was such a horrible story, she would never have agreed to read it. And her reaction to the child’s situation was ambiguous. She didn’t know how she would react, she admitted. She would have to consider the consequences of her actions on her family and her career.
Life isn’t fair, she continued, and there are a lot of truly deplorable things going on in the world. However, we can’t be expected to try to fix all of those things. No-one can, and it is folly to even try.
She then asked me if I was disappointed with her answer and even though I didn’t admit it, I really was. In fact, I think that I lost a little bit of respect for her as well.
In retrospect, I realize my immediate reaction to her admission was quite unfair and judgmental, especially as I know my friend’s true character. She is extremely kind and generous. She is also compassionate to others on a daily basis, in her personal and professional life as a nurse. But like many others, I think that she instinctively shields away from the truly horrifying aspects of humanity that have existed for millennia: human trafficking, pedophilia, domestic and child abuse, political executions, torture, famine, and homelessness, to name a few.
In my opinion, it is not cruelty or selfishness that makes most people turn away from the horrors in our world, but the feeling of being overwhelmed or helpless. Most of us truly believe that the problems that exist in our global communities are too big, too deeply engraved, too much a part of our history and our institutions to be tackled successfully, so to avoid the inevitable failure and the disappointment that accompanies that failure, we focus our attention on the immediately relevant issues in our lives.
In other words, if something affects us directly, we will take the chance and act. However, it is much, much easier to do so if we are not alone. If our path of action is supported and understood, if the consequences for our actions are dispersed among many others, we are more likely to find the resolve and the courage to speak up.
This is what happened in Canada in January and February of 2022 with the Freedom Convoy, a predominantly peaceful protest that involved dozens of truckers and hundreds of protesters in the capital city of Ottawa. The initial purpose was to protest the baffling vaccine mandates affecting cross-border Canadian truckers, but it morphed into protests against other Covid-19 mandates and general Liberal government overreach.
The protests were deemed “illegal” demonstrations by the federal government, and the unprecedented enactment of the Emergency Measures Act on February 14th (Valentine’s Day, ironically) along with the enthusiastic measures of the OPP quelled the protests. The government and the OPP’s actions also impressed on the Canadian citizens that protests were going to be punished by all means possible, including the freezing of the bank accounts of protestors, of people helping the protestors financially, and of anyone daring to show agreement with the truckers.
All of this is to show you that acting, speaking out against atrocities, injustice, government overreach, etc. has dire consequences and sometimes huge impacts on individual freedoms and security.
So, to reiterate, I apologize for stating that protests, demonstrations, letter writing to MPs, etc. is the only acceptable course of action for aware, compassionate humans. That is my fantasy.
Do the best you can, weighing all your options. That’s the most any of us can ask of you.
But, I freely admit, I do dream of a world where people follow the philosophy of an ordinary citizen like Kabede Bimro in the film by Gideon Raff, The Red Sea Diving Resort: “When you see your brother or sister suffering, you must not stay silent. Do not remain still. Go to their aid. Help them.” As another character, a Mossad agent, said in the film: “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”
Photo by Providence Doucet on Unsplash
Chandra deVita
August 31st, 2022