Analysis Of Those Who Walk Away From Omelas

“Perfection is something everyone strives for, but it’s elusive and may be an illusion” (Griffen). Fictional and physical societies often portray illusions of perfection, rather than actual perfection. Throughout history, societal imperfections are forgotten due to people believing the façades they wish to hear. Le Guin’s “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” employs dystopian elements, warning about societies with trapped citizens, living in a supposedly perfect city, who fail to question the structure of their society because the story mirrors the false perfection of the 1950s, the protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and also draws on Le Guin’s philosophical beliefs to respond to such conflicts. In “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas,”

Despite some United States citizens, mainly middle to upper class white males, not noticing any underlying problems in society, others felt compelled to do something in order to voice their opinion. An example of a peaceful response to these underlying problems is Betty Frieden. In 1962, Frieden published her work titled The Feminine Mystique. It contains her feminist ideas that women could do more than housework, be more than teachers, and have more rights overall. Frieden chose to respond to the conflict peacefully by becoming a vital feminist leader as she attempted to unite the different generations of feminists to maximize the impact of their fight against their oppressors. Activists fought by forming groups, protesting, marching, campaigning, suing, speaking, and writing: anything they could do to spread awareness and make a change. While Frieden responded peacefully, not everyone followed her example. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots broke out in a gay bar. These riots were a series of violent outbursts and protests that took place over the course of six days in New York City. The riots started when nine policemen arrested employees, along with some customers, of the Stonewall Inn. As the “criminals” were escorted from the bar, bystanders decided to try and help fight back against the police force. This escalated until there were around four hundred people rioting against the police. It took almost a week for the riots to defuse. This violence sparked a lot of conversation; people disagreed on whether or not discrimination was destructive. While those who participated in the riots did so violently, others responded by forming many gay alliance and gay support groups, such as Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” mirrors the many