payment page
Study Tools
Overview
Ursula K. Le Guin wrote and published “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in 1973
. It came on the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement as the country was still reeling from divides over the Vietnam War. An exemplar of speculative fiction, “Omelas” explores a fictional utopian city where its residents’ happiness is dependent on one child’s perpetual suffering. A commentary on suffering and injustice at the time, the story won a Locus Award for Best Short Fiction nomination in 1974 and was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1974.Read the full story summary, an in-depth character description of the narrator, and explanations of important quotes from “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”
