What is guilt? Guilt could be described as an emotional response triggered by an offense or an omission committed by oneself. Or, in this case, a feeling brought on simply by the consciousness of another’s suffering without taking action to prevent it. There are several different situations in which one may feel the sensation of guilt, but how long does it last for?
The nature of guilt is an intriguing discussion. It’s a raw emotion that we have all experienced at some point in our lives, and something we all like to toss around in attempt to avoid ownership. No one enjoys guilt, but it is a very real response in human life that is virtually unavoidable, which is why Le Guin’s constructed utopia of Omelas is such a difficult concept to grasp. However, I would say that guilt is not a limitless emotion. The average person will feel guilt for the amount of time they are subjected to it. For example, if someone were shown a video clip discussing the food crisis in Africa for children they may feel guilty and disgusted with themselves for the duration of the clip, and maybe for a short while after. In fact, maybe even a few days after this feeling may still linger. But, the fact is, this feeling will wear off as this person carries on with their normal life because they are no longer subjected to the images that disturbed them so deeply. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, so most people will avoid it at all costs. A perfect demonstration of this can be seen when people leave Omelas. Although Le Guin says guilt does not exist here, some sort of emotion compels a select few citizens of Omelas to leave the town after seeing the suffering boy. To be honest, I don’t quite understand how that works, but I digress. By leaving, these people are simply avoiding the emotions that they felt, and I’m sure once they left the town and were not subjected to the situation, they never felt those feelings again.
It would be difficult to argue that guilt can constantly be felt when 99% of our society is aware of the suffering of others on many different levels and do nothing about it. Whether it is natural disasters, poverty, food shortages, or any other reason, people in our world are constantly in misery, but since we are not constantly subjected to the image or thought of this misery, our guilt is very short-lived. Children may be slaving over our clothing in a third world country for little to no money, but do we refuse to buy the clothes as a result of an infinite sense of guilt? The answer, sadly, is no. Now, I’m not condemning every single person in this world of being heartless. I believe this is just purely human nature and I’m not saying I’m any better. Furthermore, I’m not saying there is no one in this world that has or had a sustained sense of guilt about a certain situation that resulted in action taking place. There are several organizations that do their best to relieve suffering. But when we consider the idea of guilt being constant, we can just look at our own society and find the very apparent answer. Is it easier to dwell on situations that induce guilt? Or, just push them out of our minds with thoughts and ideas more relevant to us? Unfortunately, I believe the answer is rather obvious.
