The ones who walk away from omelas questions

Devil's Advocate: At one point, the Narrator takes on that role.

The Ones are people who choose to leave the perfect Utopian city of Omelas of their own will because Omelas' prosperity is Powered by a Forsaken Child. Defector from Paradise: The story features the titular Ones.As readers who are used to reading dystopian literature can't possibly accept a utopia without some sort of catch, the Lemony Narrator just throws out the tortured child to satisfy the reader's inner curiosity.Thus, the narrator openly leaves many details of Omelas vague (such as their use of drugs or sexual norms), tells the reader it works whatever way they imagine works bests, and dismisses them as irrelevant. The essence of a utopia is being a happy place to live, but what is 'living well' will vary depending on an individual's value.Omelas one-ups this idea by having no significant plot on the fictional level, but instead having a Metafictional plot about a narrator deciding what the setting will by based on their presumptions of the audience's expectations. Many dystopian stories focus on the setting at the expense of any story or character (for instance, the original Utopia had a Framing Device but no actual plot).Deconstructive Parody: Dystopia, in particular utopia deconstructions, are themselves mocked by blithely passing over their implications from an in-universe perspective and questioning their use as narrative devices.Omelas genuinely is a Utopia, but one whose existence relies on a continually-sustained act of unspeakable barbarity towards an innocent.

The ones who walk away from omelas questions