Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth

29 Aug 2025

Episode 6.11 – Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth

Sure, the Omelas dilemma is tough, but at least we have our narrator as ally, right? Right? Perhaps the real horror in Omelas has less to do with the child at its center.

We also discuss how the relationship between culture and the individual, narrator rhetoric, broader allegories, reader psychology, and the alienation effect.

Our Main Text:

• Ursula K. Le Guin: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”: https://archive.org/download/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin.pdf

Complete Resources: https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/

CHAPTERS

00:00     Into a Land UnLike Our Own
05:34     Opening Theme
06:14     The Narrator’s Rhetorical Toolkit
20:04     Choices and Subversions
29:32     And So We Walk Away?
36:29     How Do I Teach This Nightmare?
40:16     Closing Credits

===

New to Literary Nomads? Check out episode 5.00 to find out what we’re all about: https://waywordsstudio.com/podcasts/waywords_podcast/an-introduction-and-irony/

Transcript:  https://waywordsstudio.com/general/transcript/6-11-le-guin-part-3

Have a Question? Literary Nomads Mailbag: https://forms.gle/WKGp1YWrazNZ3TLt8 

===

Literary Nomads is the primary program of Waywords Studio (https://waywordsstudio.com). The podcast posts new material each week, with thought-provoking examinations of literature around selected questions or themes and several smaller supplemental episodes in between the larger programs: history, writing, and contemporary applications of ideas.

Visit us for expanded resources for guests and the Waywords community, for other programs and writing, and for opportunities to support our goal to expand reading. Resources available can include full bibliographies of material referenced, full and partial texts, annotated editions, supplemental and expanded episodes, fictional explorations, teaching and learning resources, additional essays, and online courses.

Website:  https://waywordsstudio.com

Newsletter: https://waywordsstudio.kit.com/

Instagram: @WaywordsStudio

Facebook: Waywords.Studio

YouTube: Waywords Studio

LinkedIn: Waywords-Studio

CREDITS:

Original music by Randon Myles (https://randonmyles.com/)

Chapter headings by Natalie Harrison and Sarah Skaleski

USING THIS WORK:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is open to be used and adapted for all not-for-profit uses with proper attribution.

MLA CITATION:

Chisnell, Steve. “Le Guin Part 3: The Reader’s Labyrinth,” Literary Nomads. Waywords Studio, 29 August 2025, https://waywordsstudio.com/project/le-guin-omelas/.