MAREBEAR

                How can you punish someone for something that is not there fault?  How can you walk away from a poor child in need?  I know that I could never bear the guilt that would be put upon me if I did do that.  In “The One who Walked Away from Omelas, a young boy is treated horribly and is ridiculed for something that he cannot help.  We do not specifically know if there is something wrong with him.  Guilt is a strong emotion that is hard to erase.  I feel guilty when I do something as simple as turning my television on when I am supposed to be sleeping.  To watch a child and use him as an outlet for fear and anger, would never be lifted from my conscience.  The people of Omelas believed that if this child came out into public, it would ruin their view of the beautiful world that they lived in.  They allowed the child to stay locked up even though he clearly did not benefit from being locked up the way he is.  In our lives, sometimes we don’t see or believe the things we don’t want, in order to keep our thoughts happy and peaceful.  When I here about soldiers dying in war, it is very hard to watch the news stories and sometimes I change the channel because it is extremely difficult to comprehend the loss of lives in the name of peace.  When we chose to ignore a problem, to save ourselves from feeling guilt, we can in turn hurt others.