If you were a citizen of Omelas, would you stay or would you walk?

I wish I could say that I would walk. I wish I could be one of those individuals who, one day, just got up and blindly walked away, but I do not think I am. I probably would stay, and be one of those citizens who just continued to live their life happily. I might even go back and visit the child, but I do not believe I would ever leave.

In order for me to explain my reasoning I must bring in the third topic, which is the analogy with society today. I have shopped at Walmart, even though I know it is a horrible corporation. I take fifteen minute showers and waste food every day, even though I know that there is probably someone out there who needs that water and food I waste. When I walk down the streets of Vancouver and come across a homeless person, I tend to look away and try to pretend that they are not there. Why do I do these things? Perhaps I do it because it is the social norm, or maybe because I am unable to face the problems within our society. To tell you the truth, I really do not know. I know doing these things are wrong. I feel awful during and afterwards, but I still do them.

This is why I feel that if I were a citizen of Omelas, I would stay. I would probably be one of those kids who, when brought down to that cellar for the first time, would stare blankly at first, then with disgust, and finally with fear. I would then turn away and have the door close behind me as I ran away to cry in my moms arms. It would take me a couple of days to register what I had seen, and so many thoughts would run through my head: astonishment, fear, confusion. It would probably take me a few years to get all of my thoughts together, and then I would muster up the courage to go see the child again. I would probably continually see the child throughout my life, I do not know why I would do this, but I have a feeling I would.

It is very hard for me to explain my full reasoning, and it is also very hard for me to justify it, because I do not have all the answers. I do not know for sure if what I explained would really happen if I had grown up in Omelas. I also do not know why I do the things I do within our society, but I do, and that is all I can base my answer off of.