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Ursula Le Guin's Those Who Walk Away From Omelas

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Ursula Le Guin agreed that, “there should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion” (Yousafzai). Over the past half of a century, many Americans have begun to realize the discrimination and unfairness that exist. While there are many possible responses to inequality, often those facing the inequality cannot respond, thus, many have started to make a change for those who cannot. Some fight by protest, others in courtrooms, and some use fiction. Ursula Le Guin utilized fiction to help bring about change. Le Guin’s “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas” demonstrates the conflict formed by divisions in society during the 60’s and 70’s because the story mirrors the struggle for acceptance during that time and also draws on Le Guin’s philosophical response to such conflicts. While living in Berkeley, California, Le Guin was exposed to many protesters fighting for peace, which inspired her to research some potential form of higher being and may have helped spark her inspiration to …show more content…

Around this same time, Le Guin witnessed, and responded in her own way to, violence between law enforcement and homosexuals through the Stonewall Riots. These riots were a series of violent outbursts and protests that took place over the course of six days in 1969 in New York City. This violence sparked a lot of conversation where people disagreed on whether or not discrimination was destructive. The Stonewall Riots became known as the catalyst for the gay rights movement. When writing “Those Who Walk Away From Omelas”, Le Guin decided to respond to the riots by asking questions and including thought provoking statements such as; “Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive” (Le Guin). Le Guin seized the opportunity to make people really ponder the potential implications discrimination can have by including it in her fiction, thus, she added to the conversation of gay

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