Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
I agree that it's a problem, and they don't have to be resolved. I just felt that Card spent most of the book setting up this particular question, and then didn't address it. (I've read the Blish book, and I've heard of that Le Guin book, though I haven't read it yet. I probably should.)
|
"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" is a short story, in her collection "The Wind's Twelve Quarters".
Quote:
I think one can tell a story that asks a moral question without answering it. And I don't have a problem with stories that really show how one way of trying to resolve a moral question falls out, and allow the reader to draw their own conclusions on whether the outcome is satisfactory or not. I just think it's jarring to the reader to set up a story in which it looks as though a moral question is going to be dealt with-- even unsatisfactorily-- and then abandon it. 
|
Oh, agreed. I think it's a failure for the reasons that you do. It's structurally unsound. It's like the old adage about the theater: "If you place a gun in a dresser drawer in the first act, you must pull it out and shoot someone with it by the third act." If you fail to do so, it's a fundamental error in drama -- why have the gun in the first place?
I think Card painted himself into a corner, then chose to blithely ignore the fact.
______
Dennis