Twobr02b 'And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas'

Both “2BR02B” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin, depict ideal utopian societies where the citizens live in peace and happiness. However, these societies have flaws that prove them to be unideal for life. Upon closer examination, one sees that these societies may function with a set social and class structure in mind, but also providing their citizens a scapegoat for their problems.

“You’re entitled to be immortalized. See any faceless body here you’d like me to stick your head on? We’ve got a few choice ones left” (Vonnegut 91). When Leora Duncan enters the hospital, the painter asks her to choose one of the faceless bodies in the painting, and he will paint her head on that body. I will use this quote to illustrates how little value an individual human life has on their utopian society. Before bringing a new life into the world, a citizen of society must volunteer to die in order to control the population. The citizens in this utopia progress through life as faceless individuals until the day a new life replaces them.

“There were no prisons, no slums, no insane asylums, no cripples, no poverty, no wars” (Vonnegut 88).

By using this quote, I will introduce the reader to the idea of a utopian society present in both of my works before showing how the societies have fatal flaws. The utopian society in “2BR02B” conquered all of the miseries listed in the quote. Furthermore, they cured old age and all diseases. However, that happiness comes at the price of having strict population control laws that state someone must die before the birth of a new life. “In Those Who Walk Away From Omlas”, happiness can be found in their Festival of Summer where they celebrate their city through various activities. Their price to pay is the misery of a child who must live in a cellar, starving and

beaten.
“…but they all understand 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” (Guin 3). This quote will be helpful in my argument that even the most perfect utopian society has flaws. The utopia in Omelas depends entirely on the misery of the child. Citizens live in peace and happiness as long as they continue to meet the terms: no one may speak any kind words to the child. However, this child, starving and living in a cellar begging for help, suffers greatly. The citizens know that the child needs help; however, they would rather sacrifice the happiness of one child instead of sacrificing the whole society’s.