Zamyatin Analysis: Sacrifice The Self
Zamyatin Analysis
Sacrifice the Self
The concept of a perfect society, or utopia, has inspired thought and philosophical supposition for millennia. With the hope of one day attaining the social perfection of utopia, humanity has explored countless possible methods for achieving it. The resulting intellectual labors have produced such optimistic works as Plato’s Republic and Thomas Moore’s Utopia, claiming that logic and reason, as the distinguishing traits of humanity, are the conduits through which mankind may achieve a perfect society; however, the same pursuit of utopia has also more recently yielded modern literary works that claim that logic and reason are the very creators of societies that are infernal in nature, as illustrated …show more content…
The people celebrate and make merry all day, every day, enjoying “[s]miles, bells, parades, horses, [and orgies]” while “the offspring of these delightful rituals [are] enjoyed and beloved and looked after by all”; however, like the One State, there exists an “X” of imperfection in Omelas (LeGuin 19, 20). Not all who live in Omelas are happy. There is one house in this blissful community that is home to the only citizen who lives in anguish, a child locked in a broom closet. “It could be a boy or girl,” the story’s narrator explains: It looks about six, but actually is nearly ten. It is feeble-minded, perhaps it was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition, and neglect. It picks its nose and occasionally fumbles vaguely with its toes or genitals, as it sits hunched in the corner […] (24-25) The child lives wretchedly, naked, alone, unloved, and terrified. Human compassion would dictate that, if such a child was to be discovered by others, then it would be rescued from its torturous existence posthaste and cared for by the community. The child’s suffering is known well to the people of Omelas, though, and the blot on their false utopia is the fact that they are cruelly indifferent to and yet dependent upon the child’s agony: They all know [the child] is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it; others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of the their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest
Sacrifice the Self
The concept of a perfect society, or utopia, has inspired thought and philosophical supposition for millennia. With the hope of one day attaining the social perfection of utopia, humanity has explored countless possible methods for achieving it. The resulting intellectual labors have produced such optimistic works as Plato’s Republic and Thomas Moore’s Utopia, claiming that logic and reason, as the distinguishing traits of humanity, are the conduits through which mankind may achieve a perfect society; however, the same pursuit of utopia has also more recently yielded modern literary works that claim that logic and reason are the very creators of societies that are infernal in nature, as illustrated …show more content…
The people celebrate and make merry all day, every day, enjoying “[s]miles, bells, parades, horses, [and orgies]” while “the offspring of these delightful rituals [are] enjoyed and beloved and looked after by all”; however, like the One State, there exists an “X” of imperfection in Omelas (LeGuin 19, 20). Not all who live in Omelas are happy. There is one house in this blissful community that is home to the only citizen who lives in anguish, a child locked in a broom closet. “It could be a boy or girl,” the story’s narrator explains: It looks about six, but actually is nearly ten. It is feeble-minded, perhaps it was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition, and neglect. It picks its nose and occasionally fumbles vaguely with its toes or genitals, as it sits hunched in the corner […] (24-25) The child lives wretchedly, naked, alone, unloved, and terrified. Human compassion would dictate that, if such a child was to be discovered by others, then it would be rescued from its torturous existence posthaste and cared for by the community. The child’s suffering is known well to the people of Omelas, though, and the blot on their false utopia is the fact that they are cruelly indifferent to and yet dependent upon the child’s agony: They all know [the child] is there, all the people of Omelas. Some of them have come to see it; others are content merely to know it is there. They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of the their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest