The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula Le Guin

“The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking and real change in the cultural fabric of American life.” (Gillis, Goodwin 1) In the span of twenty years many social changes occurred in the United States. Through the sixties to the seventies people, especially the younger crowed played a large rule in the free spirited mind set of this time period. The sixties and seventies was known as a time of great change and the US was affected by this in several aspects. The culture, economy, politics and intellectual upheavals of different social groups helped progress the overall change of this time period. Literature also was influenced by the change. Authors such as Tim O’Brien’s short story “How to tell a true war story” and Ursula Le Guin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” expressed ideas of the 1960’s and 1970’s culturally, economically, politically, and through intellectual upheavals that occurred.
The culture of the sixties and seventies was dominated by the youth that were the “baby boomers.” Different fads that came to cater to the youth were in 1959 the creation of the Barbie Doll and the G.I Joe doll, which became the first action figure for boys (Gillis, Goodwin 1). Sixties and seventies fashion was stepping out of the conservative “below the knees” dress code of the fifties to a more revealing fashion. In the sixties women started wearing more flashy clothing like miniskirts, go-go boots and men were wearing bright colors and more patterns (Gillis, Goodwin 1). The hair styles for men and women were mainly big hair, African Americans sported afros and women had a hair style called bouffant (Gillis, Goodwin 1). During the seventies the fashio...

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