Q 01/05

Ursula K. Le Guin found the name Omelas by reading a road sign for which city backwards?

A) Selma, Alabama

B) Helena, Montana

C) Salem, Oregon

D) Salinas, California

Answer · why

C) Salem, Oregon

Salem, Oregon spells the name in reverse once the state's O is kept, and she spotted the sign reflected in a mirror. She joked that ideas come from 'r...

Q 02/05

Which K-pop group's 2017 music video for Spring Day shows a neon sign reading Omelas?

A) BTS

B) EXO

C) GOT7

D) NCT

Answer · why

A) BTS

BTS built the Spring Day video around Le Guin's story and the film Snowpiercer, using both to explore death, the afterlife and closure.

Q 03/05

Which ordinary objects, standing in a corner of the prison room, terrify the suffering child of Omelas?

A) The brooms

B) The mops

C) The ladders

D) The lanterns

Answer · why

B) The mops

The mops, a couple of them with stiff, foul-smelling heads, stand beside a rusty bucket. The child shuts both eyes but knows they are still standing t...

Q 04/05

Under the terms of Omelas, what happens the day the child is brought into sunlight and comforted?

A) Another child is chosen

B) The rescuer is locked away

C) The citizens forget

D) Every delight is destroyed

Answer · why

D) Every delight is destroyed

Every delight is destroyed in that same day and hour, along with all the prosperity and beauty of Omelas. Trading thousands of happy lives for one sma...

Q 05/05

Which feeling is the one thing Le Guin's narrator knows for certain is absent from the city of Omelas?

A) Guilt

B) Envy

C) Grief

D) Boredom

Answer · why

A) Guilt

Guilt is the single thing the narrator is sure Omelas lacks, which makes the later revelation sting. Freeing the child, the citizens reason, would onl...