Analysis of LeGuins The Lathe of Heaven - Book Report/Review Example

The Lathe of Heaven – LeGuin Written as a science fiction novel and therefore generally regarded as a mere form of entertainment, Ursula LeGuin’s book The Lathe of Heaven reflects a great deal of the founding principles of Taoism. One of these principles is demonstrated in the now-familiar symbol of Yin and Yang, intended to represent everything existing in harmony, in balance with everything else. Another refers to the idea of actionless action, in which change is affected by allowing a process to proceed to its ultimate expression. A third refers to necessity of living simply to achieve access to the flowing power available through the fourth concept of cosmic energy while the fifth founding element refers to the flowing waters and winds of change and motion. These concepts are called Wu Wei (actionless action), Te (flowing power through living simply), Ch’I (cosmic energy) and Feng-Shui (winds and waters of change) (Hundoble, 1999). LeGuin weaves all five of these concepts into the storyline of the novel as it traces the progression of George Orr and his psychiatrist Dr. William Haber as they examine the limits of George’s abilities to change reality. The concept of Yin and Yang are contained within the character of George himself. Physically, he is not tall or short, blond or brunette. When he meets new people, Heather Lelache for instance, he strikes them as almost repulsively weak but also as amazingly strong. “The man struck her as not exactly feeble-minded, but revoltingly simple” (41) are Heather’s thoughts early in their first meeting, quickly revised to “now she thought that he certainly wouldn’t squash if she stepped on him, nor crunch, nor even crack. He was peculiarly solid” (45). When he discusses things that have been happening in his life, he does so with a great deal of equanimity, not seeming to pass judgment upon others, but not granting approval for their actions either. This idea of George representing the perfect balance of Yin and Yang is finally confirmed by Dr. Haber himself when he tells George the results of the tests that were run on him: “Where there’s an opposed pair, a polarity, you’re in the middle; where there’s a scale, you’re at the balance point. … you’re the man in the middle of the graph” (137). The concept of actionless action is brought out in the discussions George tries to hold with Dr. Haber regarding the changes that are being made through his dreams. This is particularly well-illustrated in the discussion he has with the doctor regarding the snake-bit victim in the woods. The doctor asks George if he had an entire kit-full of snake-bite serum and came across a woman lying on a deserted path in the woods dying of a snake-bite, would he withhold the cure. George’s response, rather than the expected immediate yes, is a studied, thoughtful “It would depend” (139). His argument against immediately helping the woman is based on the idea that he would not know completely what it is that he is doing and therefore, no action might be the better action. “If reincarnation is a fact, you might be keeping her from a better life and condemning her to live out a wretched one. Perhaps you cure her and she goes home and murders six people in the village. I know you’d give her the serum because you have it and feel sorry for her. But you don’t know whether what you’re doing is good or evil or both” (140). Living simply was a concept that seemed inherent in the character of George. The first living quarters described indicate he has an 8x11 room that is mostly filled with his balloonbed and a pullout stove, sharing a bathroom with others who lived on the floor. Although he gave himself more room to move in by chapter six, “three large rooms, a bathroom with a deep claw-foot tub and a view between roofs to the river” (72), but he collapses in a “living room he had never got around to furnishing in the three years he’d lived here” (77). Likewise, the furnishings in his cabin are reduced to the necessities: “Its furniture was the Franklin stove with a two-plate cooker top, a box full of alder branches, a cabinet, a table, a chair and an army cot” (94). The various grand plans proposed by Dr. Haber are consistently argued against by George, who favors a simpler solution to everything. When it is suggested he do something about the problem of racial prejudice, Dr. Haber was envisioning “a political and ethical solution. Instead of which, your primary thinking processes took the usual short cut … Made the change biological and absolute” (128) when George turned the entire human population gray. Cosmic energy is suggested in the way in which George’s brain works to interpret the directives it’s given as well as when he is able to circumnavigate the terrifying changing environment when Dr. Haber finally tries to induce e-state sleep on his own brain. We begin to suspect cosmic energy when we discover George’s particular talent in combination with his unique personality and character makeup. The way in which it follows through on the suggestions provided indicate a profound understanding of the workings of the universe, particularly in dealing with the specifics. George’s dreams always provide a logical foundation for the changes being made and remain consistent in large-scale details until Haber begins fine-tuning his Augmentor. The aliens, themselves cosmic pieces of energy, provide George with the control he has been seeking, giving him the hint he needed so he didn’t have to dream his dreams alone. Finally, it is by the power of his will alone “He walked forward [on marble], while his eyes informed him that he walked on mist, on mud, on decayed corpses, on innumerable tiny toads” (173). The final concept, that of Feng-Shui (winds and waters of change), can be seen throughout the book as well, although it is not shown as much in dialogue as it is in description. Every time George dreams, the world shifts to a new reality. As long as the overall control of the dream lies within George’s power, the world is able to continue on without a hiccup under its new assumptions. However, Dr. Haber’s involvement in the control of the dream begins to show signs of strain as things begin to come unordered. It is primarily through the way in which these things shift that George becomes alarmed at Dr. Haber’s control over his dreams. The way that George is able to keep rolling along with these changes even though he remembers each one of the alternate realities he’s made, including the original reality that the world has been destroyed by mankind, demonstrates this concept as well. Haber’s collapse following his attempt helps to bring this point home. “[George] felt excruciating pity and fear. He knew what Haber was looking at. He had seen it himself. He was looking at the world after April 1998. He was looking at the world as misunderstood by the mind: the bad dream” (179-80). Through action, dialogue and character, LeGuin was able to sum up the principle concepts of Taoism within the pages of her science fiction novel. By providing an entertaining course of events, she is able to examine the fundamental ideas of this philosophy and present her conclusions in such a way as to engage her reader to a much greater degree than a traditional textbook lecture might. In this respect, too, she helps illuminate some of the concept of the Tao, by allowing the information contained to catch on the intellect of the reader instead of crashing in upon their awareness. The fictional context allows readers to enjoy the book as a story and think about the principles separately or not at all, depending upon their comfort level, understanding and personal philosophical beliefs. Nothing is forced, it is allowed to remain balanced with the reader according to his or her own ability, flowing naturally with the flow of the story. Works Cited Hundoble, Julia. “Taoism: Basic Fundamentals of The Way.” Chico, CA: California State University, 1999. June 16, 2006 < http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/fall99/hundoble/> LeGuin, Ursula. The Lathe of Heaven. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1971. Read More