Anshika Yadav
Q.L.C.’s first meeting of this academic year
attempted to break down and discuss Ursula le Guin’s enigmatic masterpiece The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. The
club had recommended this story as part of its summer reading activity, and
since it received a good response from the members, it was selected as the
topic of the first meeting of the year.
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| Full-house for the First Meeting! |
The short story revolves around the Utopian
city of Omelas whose citizens enjoy eternal well-being and happiness which, in
a cruel twist provided by the writer, depends on the perpetual misery of a
single child.
The story itself teases many emotions and
themes and is complex to understand. Q.L.C. attempted to bring the themes of the
story into our daily lives and answer some of the questions that le Guin poses.
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| Discussing Happiness! |
We started by reflecting on the idea of true
happiness. Le Guin devotes two pages of the story to just describing the state
of, and the reason for the happiness of the people of Omelas. The members were
asked to talk about what made them truly happy. The responses, as ever, were
varied, reflective, and at times, amusing- ranging from having ice-cream at
midnight to stealing moments of solitude from the bustle of daily life.
However, the atmosphere turned somber when we
reflected on the possible sacrifices that other people often have to make even
for the simplest of our pleasures. Viewed in this context, it was easier to
comprehend the point of the misery of the child.
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| Is Evil Necessary? |
The second question that we attempted to answer
was that of the conflict between the individual and the society and deciding if
it is okay to sacrifice the happiness of one individual for the well-being of
the society. There was no definitive conclusion reached on this ambiguous
issue, but the club was introspective as we all recognized instances where we
often end up sacrificing the happiness of an individual for the greater good of the society.
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| Sharing a Thought |
The members were then encouraged to talk about
one nefarious quality in them. This was in response to the last question- Is
evil necessary? As Vice Principal of the college, and Chairperson of the club,
Ms. Grace Sudhir pointed out, it was indeed fascinating to listen to members as
they boldly opened up about their darker sides, and attempted to come to terms
with how this side too, was an undeniable part of them.
The lecturers who
joined us for the meeting, Pushpa Ma’am, Sumitra Ma’am and Jhilam Ma’am were
also great sports as they too opened about their darker sides to the members.
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| '...they seemed to know where they were going, the ones who walked away from Omelas.' |
The discussion ended with Grace Ma'am thanking
and acknowledging the contributions and efforts of the lecturers, and the
active participation of the members. Like with previous Q.L.C. meet-ups, this one
too ended with the members learning something new and necessary, not just from
a brilliant piece of literature, but also through sharing ideas and thoughts
with the rest of the club.
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