" A child of nine or ten sits at the edge of the crowd, alone, playing on a wooden flute. People pause to
listen, and they smile, but they do not speak to him, for he never ceases playing and never sees them, , his dark eyes wholly rapt in the sweet, thin magic of the tune" (Le Guin 333)
I think the way passerbys respond to the child is reflective of the Omelan society. Versus our own where there is alot of rules surrounding people playing music on the street (buskers) and its association with artists on the street struggling for money. Although not all buskers are busking in that context. This also not to say that the boy is busking but i associate that passage with buskers in my real life.
other mentions of art described in the on going festival also gives some insight to the art. it is all created in the spirit of celebration
In our real life world we thankfully have many celebrations that were created out of celebration. I think of Christmas, Carnival, and Halloween.
