The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

In high school, I didn't like English class. Instead of trying to find personal meaning in a book, I wanted the teacher to just tell me. That's what school's about, right? The right answer?

There was one story that has haunted me, though: the Ones who Walk Away from Omelas. It's about a wonderful city filled with happy citizens, with but a single, dark aspect -- it's prosperity depends entirely on the perpetual misery of a single person. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Omelas

Most citizens, as they come to learn about this person, react with disgust, but grow to accept it. They may feel guilty, make excuses, or whatever, but they come to terms with the price that person must pay for their happiness.

There are some, however, who walk away from Omelas. What drives them is unclear, as is their destination. But the story ends with:

"The place they go towards is a place even less imaginable to most of us than the city of happiness. I cannot describe it at all. It is possible it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas."

And it brings to mind a comment my father made on Facebook not too long ago -- that if I had grown up in a different time, in a different place, I would have different attitudes. It caused me to question whether that was true.

Would I, like the majority in the story, have accepted another's misery to elevate myself? Or would I have walked away from Omelas? It's a question that continues to bother me.