Beneath the city lives a nameless child who knows only darkness and squalor. This is, however, just a picture of life above ground in Omelas.
Lu Guin only suggests free love is readily available in the city, where potential lovers wander the streets ready to participate in sexual activity. Sexual mores in Omelas are left to the reader’s imagination. Furthermore, the people are free from the tyranny of religious leaders, as the city lacks any priests or oligarchical elements. There are no slaves and the laws that govern the city are not outlined, but Le Guin “suspects that few” (2). In terms of law enforcement and government rule, Le Guin leaves this area vague stating only that there is no military presence within the city, and that the people are not governed by a king. Their lives are complex and they do not live in an idyllic fairytale, as the description of the city might suggest. They are “mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives are not wretched” (2). Despite their happiness, the people of Omelas are not simple. In Omelas, the people have precisely what they need, and have managed to trim away the more destructive excesses of life.
Boys and girls in the Green Fields exercise their horses in preparation for the festival race.īells clang and people sing and dance so that the city seems alive with music.
For the festival, the entire population of Omelas joins together in various processionals through the city.
The city is characterized by its happiness and beauty underscored by its close proximity to a sparkling sea. In this short story, Le Guin describes the utopian city of Omelas during the Festival of Summer.