- The narrator invites us to imagine Omelas as this negative and dark place that is full of people who feel nothing but pain in despair, but still manage to smile and live life day by day. The narrator also invites to add whatever type of social gathering we would like into this world, like an orgy. The narrator wants the audience to co-create this utopia so that we can all have our own image of Omelas in our mind, but each one still is built on that foundation of negativity.
2. The citizens of Omelas have to be made aware of the child in the basement because it helps humble the people of Omelas and really makes them wonder if the prosperity of their city is worth the suffering of the children.
3. A specific issue in contemporary culture that is depicted in the story is the idea that people are willing to do anything and everything to better themselves, even if it means putting other people do or feeding off of another person’s failure.
4. Walking away from Omelas represents walking away from a negative and dark past and moving towards a brighter and more positive future that does not involve feeling such negative emotions. I think LeGuin believes the right choice is walking away from Omelas because she paints Omelas as such a negative and dark place to show us that once you leave Omelas, any place would be better to live than there. I would definitely leave Omelas because I think living in a place encourages violence and negativity will only bring about more violence and negativity, and life is too short to live that way.
I also chose the option to leave the Omelas for similar reasonings!
I agree with you that Le Guin believes the people who walk away from Omelas are making the right choice. That can be further evidenced by the title Le Guin gave the story, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, focusing on them rather than the people who stay.
I’d suggest following the directions of the assignment.