The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: Frame Story 1 key example

Frame Story
Explanation and Analysis—As Fancy Bids:

Le Guin uses a literary technique called a “frame story” to engage the reader as they learn about the city of Omelas. Through this, she emphasizes the disconnection between the narrator and the reader and makes readers highly conscious that they’re being told a tale that contains a moral quandary:

O miracle! But I wish I could describe it better. I wish I could convince you. Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time. Perhaps it would be best if you imagined it as your own fancy bids, assuming it will rise to the occasion, for certainly I cannot suit you all.