Now, while the setting may be in a constant state of flux (between the details the reader creates and the details the narrator gives the reader), there are certain aspects of the story that are concrete and critical to what Le Guin is asking the reader to do. One of those constants within this story is the caged boy mired in his on filth. Another is the almost shameless resignation the townsfolk have regarding the poor boy. These two points are integral to some of the philosophical questions the story posits, is the undeserved and intense suffering of one justified if it ensures the happiness of many? In what ways does our own reality reflect this dilemma? The ones that leave Omelas, why are they headed to an indescribable place?

To answer this questions completely would take pages and pages of text and prose and, intertextual analysis from many different...
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