The narrator of “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” tells the story of a people who are happy or at least content. The narrator keeps presenting this fantastical society and tries to convince the audience that it is real. After describing the festival-like atmosphere the Omelas experience, the narrator asks “Do you believe? Do you accept the festival, the city, the joy? No? Then let me describe one more thing” (Le Guin par. 7). That one thing is the condoning of child abuse. From the blind following of tradition, to the lack of action taken to change the society, there is little to no chance of the basement child to receive the help he or she needs. By the time the audience is introduced to the society, the tradition of neglect is already …show more content…
Even if the treatment is not called abuse, it is neglect in the least. The conflict is the un-naming of the situation rather using negative imagery and giving an astounding description of the plight of the basement child. The fault hardly lies in the narrator as the Child Welfare League of America cannot even come up with definite rights and wrongs “Even if researchers adhere to the commonly used categories of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse, problems arise.” (Curtis, 409-411). Hicks and Stein created a study where they attempted to define child abuse, neglect identifying the thoughts of those that were neglected, and possible interventions. In order to prevent long lasting damage to the neglected “Schools and parents have an important role to play” (Hicks and Stein pg. 229). The basement child does not have the luxury of a school or parents. The audience is told s/he does not go to school as others around his/her age come to see the child. At one point a mother is mentioned to whom the child mentions “I’ll be good” (par. 8). That parent is never seen or heard from again. The child cannot even take comfort in kind words as s/he may not experience any niceties. The balance of the Omelas’ depends upon