Since the beginning of time, storytelling has been the key to the survival of the human heart. Not only is it a good method of entertainment, but it helps humans confront their demons. As the times and technology evolved, humans began telling stories through the use of various mediums. This essay talks about written short stories and television shows. Specifically, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin and BBC’s Sherlock. It is through these stories that we confront relationships, judgements, perspectives, and biases. It is only by confronting oneself that one can truly understand humanity.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and “The Final Problem” are two stories which make us confront human biases and perspectives through the stories of others. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas was a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin; the story was published in October 1973. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is a story of a utopian society that lives a happy life at the expense of a miserable child. “The Final Problem” is a more modern tale, seeing as it aired in January 2017 as the final episode of the fourth season of BBC’s Sherlock. It is the grand, epic conclusion to the show (for now) and it bring Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Mycroft Holmes face-to-face with Eurus Holmes, Sherlock’s forgotten little sister. She is brilliant, but she is “too smart for her own good.” Sherlock must solve a childhood mystery and save his friends, and ultimately his entire family. These two stories share common themes: they are about the families and communities that surround people, and they are about the dangers of complacency in the detriment of others. However, they also share differences, as Eurus is saved at the end of her story, whereas the miserable child in Omelas remains in its desolate seclusion. Both of these stories make readers confront their humanity and the thoughts and feelings they hold. Are they destructive? Are they capable of harm, or of helping others? Can humanity better itself beyond selfish impulse to destroy? These stories are mere tools to help readers confront these.
Who tells the story and the information they have to tell it are two of the most important aspects of storytelling. When it comes to narration, The Norton Introduction to Literature defines it as the one who “mediates or represents” the story to the audience (Mays 169). As for the information they have, often called perspective or point of view, that definition can be boiled down to the combination of voice and focus (Mays 169). In both The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and “The Final Problem,” the narrator and the point of view are crucial to the storytelling. In both the short story and the television show, there is a third person narrator. Telling a story in third person means the “narrator is not a character in the story and does not participate in its action” (Mays 170). Even within third person narration, there is omniscient and limited third person narrators. For both stories, the narration is third person limited, which means that the narrator only has their own perspective; the narrator cannot see into the minds of each individual character, and they can only speak on what they know. Perspective is a major part of both these stories, as they both revolve around what is known and who it is known by.
In “The Final Problem,” Sherlock Holmes must confront his long-forgotten sister Eurus Holmes and finally solve the mystery of his long-lost dog, Redbeard. Of course, this mystery is not what it seems, as finding a missing dog does not seem like that would make a good modern television show in 2017. The matter of point of view and perspective come into play when Eurus gives this revelation as Sherlock is piecing the puzzle together: “Remember daddy’s allergy? What was he allergic to? What would he never let you have all those times you begged? Well, he’s never let you have a dog” (“The Final Problem”). This matter of perspective led Sherlock to the discovery that Redbeard was never a dog. As a matter of fact, Redbeard was a human boy named Victor who was Sherlock’s childhood best friend. Eurus killed Sherlock’s friend at a very young age, and Sherlock was unable to cope. In order to move on without severe trauma, Sherlock rewrote his memories to make Victor into a dog named Redbeard, who went missing. Another matter of perspective in “The Final Problem” is Eurus herself. Being the villain of the episode, it is hard to sympathise with her psychotic tendencies. She is forcing Sherlock, John, and Mycroft to work together to save a little girl on a plane. Later, at the end of the episode, viewers learn that there is no girl on a plane. It is Eurus herself, crying for help. All throughout the episode, she was believed to be the villain. With Sherlock and Mycroft leading the show, the narrator followed their perspective; this showed Eurus as a murderous villain, incapable of human emotion. However, when we see Eurus’ perspective, viewers see her crying out for help. They see her shouting into the void, waiting for someone to hear. Sherlock explained it best when he tells Eurus, “Look how brilliant you are. Your mind has created the perfect metaphor. You’re high above us, all alone in the sky, and you understand everything except how to land. Now, I’m just an idiot, but I’m on the ground. I can bring you home…You’re not lost anymore” (“The Final Problem”). Viewers can see how families can heal and people recover when they are given a new perspective. When people bring their perspectives together, healing can begin.
As for The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, the point of view is rather limited. There are not very many characters and there is next to no dialogue. Therefore, readers can only rely on what the narrator has to offer, and that is simply this: the people of Omelas trade their happiness and prosperity for the joy and happiness of a child. The story opens on a beautiful seaside town where a festival is beginning. The townsfolk live in a utopia, but the narrator informs the readers that “they were not simple folk…though they were happy” (Le Guin). The narrator continues to inform us of the wonder and beauty of Omelas, leading readers to want to be there themselves. However, the narrator tells us of a dark place where a child is kept alone. It is so strict and tragic that “there may not even be a kind word spoken to the child” (Le Guin). Many people in Omelas wrestle with their conscious; many want to free the child when they first meet. However, as the children grow after meeting this sickly child, they rationalize why the child must stay locked away. It is a tragedy that comes with the perspective of the complacency of the entire town of Omelas, except for the ones who leave. This is the beauty of narration and point of view. As readers, they are inclined to view the stories from our own biased perspectives. However, they must confront their biases and themselves when they confront the changing perspectives of the stories they hear and read. Not only must they confront themselves through the narrator, but they must also confront their humanity through the characters in the stories they consume as well.
Oftentimes, the stories that make readers feel the strongest emotions are stories in which the reader can identify with one of more character. The Norton Introduction to Literature defines a character as “any personage in a literary work who acts, appears, or is referenced to playing a part” (Mays 211). Later on, the book explains that personage does not have to mean a human entity. Non-human beings can be considered characters in a story. In The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, there are not very any defined characters. There are the adults. There are the children. There is the little child that plays the flute. There is the small miserable child that is locked away. Finally, there are the people who leave Omelas. The strongest character in the story is the miserable child that is locked away. The gender of the child is unknown, and it is said that “it looks about six, but actually is nearly ten” (Le Guin). The child’s misery is somehow the secret to Omela’s success. So, no matter how guilt they must initially feel, the citizens rationalize the child’s misery. However, some cannot rationalize it. They cannot stand the cries, so they leave. The ending of the story reads: “They leave Omelas, they walk ahead into the darkness, and they do not come back. 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 that it does not exist. But they seem to know where they are going, the ones who walk away from Omelas” (Le Guin). Perhaps these people are meant to make readers confront their demons. Perhaps these people that leave are meant to show that humanity can be better.
“The Final Problem” follows the traditional characters, meaning Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. This episode also centers Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother. The villain in this episode, as stated before, is Eurus Holmes, the long-locked-away little sister of Sherlock and Mycroft. The relationships between these characters is the true central conflict of the episode. This central conflict can also be true of the viewers. Viewers of the show find themselves so immersed in the drama and conflict because they can relate their own lives to it. Viewers know what relationship issues are like; not relationship in the sense of significant others, of course, but rather a relationship in family, in friends, and just in general. Relationships are paramount to humanity, and the drama that comes with it is unavoidable. Through both these stories, as stated before, readers and viewers must confront their humanity and their biases to evaluate what truly matters in this world.
Of course, these are not all the aspects of storytelling that could be discussed. There is always more to discuss. There is always more to talk about to confront biases and judgements so that humanity can better itself. While they are great works of fiction, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas and “The Final Problem” are two stories that force readers into introspection. A true reader, or a serious viewer, cannot help but to analyze themselves upon viewing such a brilliant work of art. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas warns readers of complacency at the detriment of others, while “The Final Problem” warns viewers of the dangers of letting go of true relationship. These are human issues. They hit the heart of what it means to be human, and this is why readers love them so much. Readers yearn for humanness. They yearn to feel what it means to be real.
Works Cited
Gatiss, Mark, et al. “The Final Problem.” Sherlock, season 4, episode 3, BBC, 15 Jan. 2017.
Le Guin, Ursula K. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Townsend School, 1996.
Mays, Kelly J. “Fiction.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, by Kelly J. Mays, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019, pp. 169-281
Grace in progress 
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