Jason,+Yongmin,+Alex

Annotations for Omelas

word: dark


 * 1

 It has one locked door, and no window. A little light seeps in dustily between cracks in the boards, secondhand from a cobwebbed window somewhere across the cellar.

This sticks out because it sets the dark tone of the room where child lives in, using the word "crack", "cobwebbed", and "seeps".


 * 2

The door is always locked; and nobody ever comes, except that sometimes—the child has no understanding of time or interval—sometimes the door rattles terribly and opens, and a person, or several people, are there.

This excerpt is a good example of the unique sentence structure that the author uses. She starts the sentence off with a short descriptive sentence, then goes on to elaborate. This style of writing elicits a suspenseful tone as the sentences progress in a very


 * 3

It picks its nose and occasionally fumbles vaguely with its toes or genitals, as it sits hunched in the corner farthest from the bucket and the two mops.

The descriptions in this sentence sets the overall morbid tone. The image of the sole child sitting naked in the corner of the room
 * 4

The terms are strict and absolute; there may not even be a kind word spoken to the child.

The matter of fact statement the author makes sets a tone of darkness. It is a grave situation for the child that is put straightforward with little subjectivity.


 * 5

It is too degraded and imbecile to know any real joy. It has been afraid too long ever to be free of fear.

The author calls the child "it," which lowers the child to the level of an object. The situation itself adds to the dark tone.