Journal Entry

"They all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of the skies usually depend wholly on this child's abominable misery" - The One Who Walks Away From Omelas p.258

All the things that contribute to this Utopian-like nature of the city of Omelas is only accredited to the misery of a young child, someone who can take all the pain away from these other citizens. For these people, seeing a young person suffer makes them think that they have more and are happy like the opening of this passage claims. To the audience, it seems that the people of Omelas need a type of balance and do not know what is good until they witness someone who has the complete opposite. They can not be happy with what they have until they see someone who is miserable without this. This quote signifies the selfishness of society and their need to compare themselves to others and only be happy when someone else is not.