The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas Essay

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"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” illustrates how a society bases its happiness on the misfortunes of one. In this society, almost everyone becomes content with the mistreatment of a child to maintain their own happiness. I say almost because some people couldn’t accept this lifestyle which led to their departure. The ones who stayed taught themselves how to live with the guilt, and they also understand that this sacrifice benefits everyone else. This lifestyle is basically being sustained because everyone believes that if this method is disrupted their whole world would be destroyed. Some may say to tolerate the misery of one to please all is morally right and some may say it's not. Honestly, If I was placed in this situation I don't know what I would do. I couldn't enslave someone to secure my happiness, but I also couldn't walk away and leave them there. This little boy’s whole life has been taken from him and no one seems to care. What would be morally right is to fight for the little boy’s freedom and abandon this whole concept. I just couldn't come to agreeance with something of this manner. My argument would consist of two questions. What makes the one who is sacrificed any less deserving of happiness as anyone …show more content…

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, who was mainly known for his utilitarian theory. According to Bentham pleasure and pain were human’s primary motivators. Which is why he also believed that an action is considered morally right if it leads to pleasure, and an action is considered morally wrong if it leads to pain. Bentham's beliefs were correct to a certain extent. Yes, ultimately, we do what makes us feel good. It’s just the simple fact that people will do more to avoid pain than they will to get pleasure. So, at the end of the day we really must think about how far a person is willing to go to avoid pain, and is the action right or wrong (Lecture

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