Seems to me like the intended meaning of that title was different when Le Guin started writing, and then things went in a different direction along the way, and Le Guin just accepted where it ended up.
My guess is it was initially intended to refer to those who wont accept the possibility of utopia, those who cynically turn away before it’s built, or those idealists who will swarm and rupture any near-perfect thing by picking and tearing at its smallest flaws, and as Tobias points out, much of it seems to have been written that way.
Then I think it might’ve gotten lost partway through, in the way a dream does, a contrivance is introduced to make a broader point, the contrivance grabs the attention of the dreamer to such an extent that the broader point gets forgotten, and “the ones who walk away from omelas” ended up walking away entirely in response to the contrivance.
So Le Guin faced a choice, she could have noticed that and trashed it and started over until she had something perfectly intentional, but successful authors generally don’t do that ime. They publish in large quantity and they publish entertaining rides rather than coherent parables. If the contrivance was engaging enough to obscure the broader point, then a successful author lets the work become about the contrivance.
Seems to me like the intended meaning of that title was different when Le Guin started writing, and then things went in a different direction along the way, and Le Guin just accepted where it ended up.
My guess is it was initially intended to refer to those who wont accept the possibility of utopia, those who cynically turn away before it’s built, or those idealists who will swarm and rupture any near-perfect thing by picking and tearing at its smallest flaws, and as Tobias points out, much of it seems to have been written that way.
Then I think it might’ve gotten lost partway through, in the way a dream does, a contrivance is introduced to make a broader point, the contrivance grabs the attention of the dreamer to such an extent that the broader point gets forgotten, and “the ones who walk away from omelas” ended up walking away entirely in response to the contrivance.
So Le Guin faced a choice, she could have noticed that and trashed it and started over until she had something perfectly intentional, but successful authors generally don’t do that ime. They publish in large quantity and they publish entertaining rides rather than coherent parables. If the contrivance was engaging enough to obscure the broader point, then a successful author lets the work become about the contrivance.