Individualism in Postmodern Literature a Case Study Ursula. Kroeber Le Guin's : “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” (1973)

Abstract

Individualism is a core issue of the Nineteenth century that postmodern writings depend on. The present dissertation deals mainly with the theme of individualism in postmodern literature; therefore, a case study was conducted on Ursula. K. Le Guin's “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” (1973). It aims at examining the theme of individualism in literary writings, and in Ursula’s book in particular, during the postmodern era and trying to find out how it could be transformed into a culture that is pursued by many people all over the world .In order to achieve this aim, the descriptive and analytical approaches were adopted; thus the work describes the theme of individualism in the postmodern era and then analyzes it in the story. The results of this research reveal that individualism can be transformed from being a philosophical idea to a culture by reading the literary works of the postmodern era as it may contribute to increasing the individual's awareness of their independence, goals and desires. That is to say, reading postmodern literary works on individualism may change the individual's way of thinking so that an individual becomes fully aware of the ways to analyze reality and events surrounding him; he has also become in control of their decisions and been more responsible for his attitudes toward himself and others as he realize their value in his society; consequently, the reader of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” will grasp the hidden messages of Ursula .k Le Guin that she transmits throughout her story. She wants the reader to understand the idea that there are some societies that do not pay attention to the happiness of the individual.