September 16, 2016 - 17:06
The definition of “slippage” is doing or saying something that one is consciously aware of but realizes that this action is inappropriate after offending someone. It is “an act of associative mis-speaking…”(Cohen & Dalke 254) that is “involuntary”(Cohen & Dalke 255). The act of slipping is not consciously done but the ideas are conscious and are already formed. This includes “deliberate moves to create inclusive structures [which] provoke pronounced displays of further exclusion” (Cohen & Dalke 253). Therefore, the actions are consciously done but the consequences may not be predicted. For example, Nkechi consciously brings her classmates into the Radnor common room where she knew there were decorative lights hanging. The problem was that she did not realize that not everyone was okay with that until they had been sitting there for a while. Despite that, slipping is a necessary part of society in order for people to grow. As Emily Elstad stated, “If we do not allow ourselves to ‘slip’, we cannot learn the truth about what we think or the truth about how others feel about what we think”(Cohen & Dalke 225). Slipping allows people to deal with issues that have bothered them but have been previously suppressed. Therefore once it is discussed, society as a whole can learn from these experiences and better the world by paying closer attention to them and reacting to them appropriately. For example when Nkechi realizes her mistake she is embarrassed and offers to turn off the lights. She learns to be more considerate of the needs of others. Therefore, slipping helps people grow into more open-minded people.
The idea of slipping applies to the story, “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin since the idea that everyone has to sacrifice something to gain success is a theme of the story. That sacrificed thing or child in this case is the idea that people cannot allow slip. It must not be mentioned because it is an accepted idea in Omelas that the child must be kept in the closet no matter what. The citizens have come to terms that it cannot be saved anyways. The citizens of Omelas understand that that child must be kept there in order for Omelas to continue to function normally. The citizens “all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom of their scholars, the skill of their makers, even the abundance of their harvest and the kindly weathers of their skies, depend wholly on this child’s abominable misery(Le Guin 4). Ultimately, there is not a thing that does not revolve around this child, which is why people have accepted that they have no choice but to leave it there. Despite that, “as time goes on they begin to realize that even if the child could be released, it would not get much good of its freedom”(Le Guin 5). These citizens of Omelas are consciously aware of the child but have chosen to suppress the feelings of disgust and anger. They know that it is inappropriate to say aloud since the majority of Omelas citizens have already accepted it. It is an accepted fact that people must not speak about and carry on as if the child was never there. Those who actually leave Omelas are the ones who slip and learn from this experience as they try to find a better place to live where there is no sacrifice needed to be made for everyone else’s happiness. Those who leave “fall away from a standard[,] … lose one’s command of things” and “… pass out of, escape from, the mind or memory”(Cohen & Dalke 256).
Ultimately, the citizens of Omelas who choose to leave are committing the slip of recognizing the child’s misery and understanding that it is not okay to live this way. Thinking about the child is a slip since it’s the norm in Omelas not to talk about the child and no one makes any efforts to get the child out. “At times one of the adolescent girls or boys who go to see the child does not go home to weep or rage, does not, in fact go home at all”(Le Guin 5). Despite that, those who actually walk away from Omelas are the ones who are slipping and learn from that slip. They are betraying the fake appearance that the town is full of happiness. Those who walk away don’t “mis-speak” but instead mis- act. In this case those who walk away slip but that causes society “to learn the truth about what we think or the truth about how others feel about [it]”(Cohen & Dalke 255) as stated by Emily previously. In this example, the ones walking away realize that they cannot take the injustice and do not want to be a part of the horrific sacrifice the child was forced to make. The slip of recognizing that keeping a child like that in the closet is wrong is a good thing. No child should be allowed to suffer in conditions as disgusting and without care as the closet the child was locked in. As a result of the slippage now there can be “’restoration’ and ‘repair’”(Cohen & Dalke 254). As more people begin to leave Omelas they will set an example for those to follow to leave this unjust society in need of a revolution.
Ultimately, those who realize their mistake in ignoring the poor child in the society that is Omelas are those who slip. As a result of this slippage they leave in order to find a better place to live in which there is no one who has to sacrifice their life for the happiness of all. Due to their slippage the ones who walk away realize they can try to fix their mistake by dissociating themselves from Omelas by breaking the barrier by leaving. In that they can try mend or repair themselves from the trauma they have witnessed and hope that more will follow their lead.