Perspectives

Literary perspective

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin is a piece of postmodern fiction. The postmodern traits of the text are the use of a first person-narrator who directly addressed readers and the subtle use of metafiction. Through questions and subtle hints, the author highlights the fictional nature of the story.

The story is also an allegory, or a story in which characters are used to represent ideas and convey a moral lesson. In the story, the child is seen as representative for the exploited citizens, while Omelas and the people there could represent developed countries or citizens who are well-off and exploit or benefit from others’ exploitation.

The story also falls into the genre of utopian literature – a type of fiction w...