Structure

The short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin lacks a traditional plot structure. The first part of the story presents a series of events that take place regularly in the city of Omelas: the summer festival, the procession, and the people’s routines. The story opens in medias res, showing the people of Omelas during the Festival of Summer. The first scene is fairytale-like with “a clamor of bells” (p. 35, l. 1) and “swallows soaring” (p. 35, l. 1). As the narrator explains the background of this idyllic place, certain foreshadowing elements suggest the shocking plot twist. 

One subtle foreshadowing element is the constant contrast between dark and light: “…across the miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue of the sky” (p. 36, ll. 13-14). Although the city se...