A Review for ‘Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole?’ by Isabel J Kim

Here’s a link to the free short story.

This short story just won the Nebula, and I decided to try it. It was hysterical, with how true it was.

This is a short story which requires context to understand. In 1973 Ursula K LeGuin published ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,’ a short story about the fictitious city of Omelas. Omelas is a utopia in all ways. Everyone has a well paying job, if they want to work. Free healthcare and free education. Tolerance of everyone and anyone. The catch is that all that is good in pure in Omelas is due to the existence of a single child being constantly tortured. The point LeGuin was making was that modern society has a dark side.

LeGuin is a hugely influential author, but I have no doubt that the parable of Omelas will prove to be her most enduring work. In the decades since this story’s published, it’s has been hugely influential. It’s been retold by authors such as NK Jemisin and shows such as Star Trek. The reason why Omelas has proven the test of time is it’s genericness, and sheer adaptability. The kid in the Omelas hole is a ready metaphor for any social ill. You can bring it up in almost any context, and have it fit.

So what makes ‘Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole?’ different from the lot of adaptations of LeGuin’s original work? It’s self aware. We’ve become jaded in the internet age, and this adaptation takes advantage of this fact. When the kid is murdered in the Omelas hole, and Omelas is forced to reckon with it, everyone rings their hands, feels bad about it for a while, then moves on. When the next kid is murdered, everyone rings their hands again, and moves on. Again and again, the kid keeps getting murdered, and nothing changes. People performatively feel bad about torturing a child, but no one actually does anything about it.

Isabel Kim was insightful, bringing a metatextual lens to the story. The narrative deliberately points out the symbolism of the hole, and how it represents ignored social ills. And how the rampant homophobia and intolerance of Omelas is merely papered over by the kid in the hole. This short story really jams the knife in, and twists it. I think some future discussions of LeGuin’s Omelas will use this re-interpretation as a reading aid to help teach students the meaning of the parable. Check it out if you’re interested.