The Dispossessed An Insight - Essay Example

“The Dispossessed” – An Insight Ursula Le Guins novel “The Dispossessed” is a highly successful science fiction novel which picked up the two most prestigious awards in the field of science fiction writing – the Hugo award and the Nebula award in the same year. What is of greater significance is that the novel is considered a major literary achievement even outside the genre of science fiction and is often discussed in colleges and universities as a modern day classic. The story unfolds in the fictional planet Urras and its giant satellite Anarres belonging to the planetary system of the star Tau Ceti. The size of the satellite Anarres is comparable to Urras and has its own atmosphere and therefore they are often described as twin planets. Urras was the original planet of settlement and these people were called Urrasti. The settlement in Anarres was created by a group of communist-anarchists called Odonians (named after their spiritual leader Laia Odo) who believed in creating a society without governmental controls but based on communal sharing. These people shifted from Urras into Anaress about a hundred and seventy years back and ever since, the contacts between the two worlds have been minimal. This has been achieved by isolating the only space port at Anaress by a wall which symbolically represents the isolation of Anaress from Urras or for that matter, any other world. Isolated from the rest of the universe, the desert planet Anaress has developed itself as a world without governments, economies, laws and individual possessions which function on the principle of collective good for its population with every individual working for the community. In this world, there is no individual possession or property. Indeed, to strengthen this, Anaressti even speak in a different language called Pravic. This language is created in Anaress and does not have sentences created in the possessive case. Despite its ideals, during the time when this story has been set, a certain degree of bureaucracy and mediocrity had set in. This story is about the journey of an individual called Shevek, a physicist from Anaress who travels to Urras to complete his scientific research. Shevek is described as a brilliant physicist far ahead of his times and revolutionary in his thinking. He is trying to develop a theory called the General Temporal Theory which will unite the concepts of Sequency (events follow one after another and time, therefore moves in one direction) and the theory of Simultaneity (times are always present; people move through times) and this will eventually develop instant communication across space and break the barrier of the speed of light being the absolute limit for speed of travel. Shevek’s theories are not accepted in Anaress which, by the very form of its communal living and thinking, does not encourage radical thinking. Shevek, therefore, decides to move to Urras, the mother planet and pursue his theories over there. There is also a secondary objective in his mind to create a better communication between Anaressti and Urrasti. Shevek comes to Urras, a beautiful lush vibrant world which is extremely attractive at a superficial level and starts working at leu Eon University in A-Lo sector. He also gets entangled into the local politics of Urras, albeit, accidentally. Urras is divided into three major segments – the affluent A-Lo with individual prosperity and freedom, the socialistic Thu and the under-developed Benbili. When Shevek has arrived at Urras, there is a power struggle going on at Benbili, with the other two sectors trying to control this sector. Shevek is initially impressed by Urras as he sees it – in particular, the apparent affluence of the people in A-Lo sector where he is staying. Gradually he also comes in contact with the darker but beautifully hidden, side of Urras. Shevek also comes in touch with the ambassador from Terra (a different name for earth – a world which has been exploited to the extent of draining it dry) at the Terran embassy where he comes to know that his colleagues at leu Eon are actually trying to steal his scientific theory for their own advancements. A dis-illusioned Shevek ultimately heads back to Anaress in a Hainish space ship. Hain is described as a planet with an enlightened society which wants to bring peace and harmony between different worlds (described in other novels and works of Le Guin). At the end of the story, Shevek agrees to take a Hainian with him into Anaress – thereby effectively breaking down the boundary walls of Anaress. There are many interpretations of this book as it is obviously a book having multiple layers and interpretations. The most popular way of looking at this book is to consider it as a book on Utopia in the traditional Utopia/ Dystopia format. The word “Utopia” derives from the book by Sir Thomas More of the same name which describes an island which has a perfect society. Subsequently, it has become more of a general term describing any world which is perceived to be ideal. Dystopia is reverse of this world – a sort of nightmare world where everything is portrayed as horrific. A good example of the Dystopia in literature is “The Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley while Samuel Johnson’s “The history of Rasselas” represents a Utopian fiction. The typical Utopian – Dystopian fiction is set in two worlds – one of which is the ideal world (Utopia) and the other is the nightmare world (Dystopia) and the protagonist usually journeys from one to the other. At a superficial level, the Dispossessed seem to fit this genre rather well – with Anaress being the Utopian world while Urras being the dystopian world. In order to make the Utopia more modern and therefore more acceptable to the modern reader, Le Guin throws in certain elements of dissatisfaction or less than ideal virtues in Anaress to make it a more “realistic” utopia. Thus by the flaws in Anaress as portrayed by Ms Le Guin are, in fact, attempts to give certain backhanded compliment to Anaress. As Paul Brians clearly points out to us that “LeGuin deliberately chose to depict Annares as flawed, for two main reasons: 1) it made her novel more credible: everyone objected to the perfectionism of the old-time utopias and 2) by focusing on Anarres flaws, its ideals were made all the more apparent. When Shevek goes to Urras he learns how deeply he has absorbed the values of the society he has rebelled against. How one reacts to Annares will depend powerfully upon ones own social background and values. To many of its earliest readers Anarres, however flawed, clearly presented a preferable ideal to contemporary American society. Its stress on sharing, on volunteerism, and on tolerance was highly attractive. To some contemporary readers, Anarres seems rather like a nightmare” (Brians, Study Guide for Ursula LeGuin:The Dispossessed ). So, finally the choice is ours and the only thing that matters, is what choices we make and what decisions we take, in our lives. This theory of utopia/dystopia is well supported by two additional aspects; the former being the declaration on the front cover of the book by Le Guin herself where she states “A magnificent epic of an ambiguous utopia”. This seems like a dead giveaway coming from the author itself. The second reason for placing this book into the Utopia/ Dystopia genre is the narrative style chosen by the author. The story does not follow a conventional narration; instead it works on two different time threads. One time thread explores the present time with Shevek’s journey to Urras and his experiences at Urras while the other time thread examines his part at Anaress. This is done very effectively by juxtaposing the two time threads in alternating chapters which also creates an effect of “compare and contrast” between the two worlds, Anaress and Urras. This also seems to suggest the Utopia/ Dystopia style of storytelling. While this theory is quite convincing and has a lot of merits, one cannot reject the fact this theory in fact makes the novel a bit too simple. The novel has multiple layers in it and Utopia/ Dystopia is merely a layer – in fact a rather superficial layer. At another level, this book is a lesson on symbolism – with direct similes between the real world and the fictional world and which can be correlated. A-Lo of Urras, therefore is a symbolic representation of the United States of America while Anaress represents the extreme form of a communist world. Thu is a representation of the Soviet Russia and the underprivileged Benbili seem to be mirroring the south-east Asia – or more particularly – Vietnam. At a later stage, the book describes the Hainian society which tries to create justice and universal order across the different planets - somewhat similar to the role as played by the United Nations. On these aspects, this book is an example of political symbolism and is closer in its form to The Animal Farm or Gulliver’s travels. People also seem to ignore the fact that the author describes the book to be “A magnificent epic”. Its epic nature is less obvious on the first read but is definitely there in the background. Shevek’s interactions in Urras and his efforts to overcome the problems show a fairy tale like pattern. Shevek becomes the fairy tale hero who defeats the evil in his conquest and establishes the rule of the good once more. Thus this book attains the structure of a Greek epic – where the journey of an individual is, in reality, the ultimate quest for humanity. The central theme is, therefore, not the contrast of the two worlds but breaking down of the differences which encompasses Anaress. The Dispossessed is the story of harmonizing and unifying multiple views and differences by breaking the barriers and gapping the differences. As Moylan tells us “The Dispossessed is an expression of the attitude of detente, of the cooperation of previously contending forces to transcend hostility, suffering and injustice and jointly work toward a better world for all......The central motif of the novel is the breaking down of walls…smashing of boundaries which divide and isolate” (Moylan, p. 93) There is also a third school of thought which believes The Dispossessed to be a “feminist” novel. It is often cited as an example of Feminist Science Fiction – part of it arising from the fact that Ursula Le Guin is a woman and is known to sport certain feminist ideologies. In parts, “The Dispossessed” does contain elements which represents, or at least tries to project or represent feminism as perceived in the Seventies. In Anaress, children are given randomly chosen six letter words without any reference to their sexuality. They grow up in dormitories without any sexual discrimination. Both the genders do similar work and there is no division between the two based on any gender biases. Shevek’s wife Takver is a practicing biologist and Shevek’s mother Rulag is shown to have a very prominent place in the society. Despite this, “The Dispossessed” is definitely not a book on feminism. It is a book describing an ideal world and this ideal world is not created based on a male-chauvinistic superstructure. Many also argue about the protagonist being a male and therefore the novel cannot be called a “Feminist” novel while an equivalent number of readers also claim that Shevek is the ideal male as far as the Feminists are concerned and this is proof enough for this book to be considered as a feminist work. In “The new utopian politics of Ursula K. Le Guins “The Dispossessed”, the authors, Laurence Davis and Peter G. Stillman brings forth yet another point of view. They expound the theory that “The Dispossessed” is, in reality, a study of how and individual can overcome his social upbringing and reach out to other cultures and eventually achieve better understanding. Thus Shevek, after his initial exaltation at the pleasing experience in A-Lo and the later realization about the other face of Urras achieves salvation through his balanced understanding of the two. Thus, the book becomes the quest of an individual for truth, who finally has to choose his own path. As Plaw expounds “If however, the core of Sheveks beliefs is individual freedom, then people must be allowed to discover the truth for themselves and make their own choices”(Plaw, p. 289). Shevek realizes this when he understands the two sides of Urras, which is described by Le Guin as “It was not the “real Urras”. The dignity and beauty of the room he and Efor were in was as real as the squalor to which Efor was native. To him, a thinking mans job was not to deny one reality at the expense of the other, but to include and to connect. It was not an easy job.”(LeGuin, p. 284-285). With this understanding Shevek realizes that the greatest barrier to understanding cross cultures is that every ones perception is deeply rooted in his individual beliefs. This theory though is true in parts, does not quite explain or expound all aspects of this book. The Dispossessed, indeed, is a journey of an individual; but more than an intellectual quest for the truth, it is the journey of breaking the barriers. It is an expression of an individual against the barriers, the walls, the control mechanisms which tend to control human endeavors. This can be well understood as framed by LeGuin in Sheveks speech “You see, what were after is to remind ourselves that we didnt come to Anarres for safety, but for freedom. If we must all agree, all work together, were no better than a machine. If an individual cant work in solidarity with his fellows, its his duty to work alone. His duty and his right. We have been denying people that right. Weve been saying, more and more often, you must work with the others, you must accept the rule of the majority. But any rule is tyranny. The duty of the individual is to accept no rule, to be the initiator of his own acts, to be responsible. Only if he does so will the society live, and change, and adapt, and survive. We are not subjects of a State founded upon law, but members of a society formed upon revolution. Revolution is our obligation : our hope of evolution. The Revolution is in the individual spirit, or it is nowhere. It is for all, or it is nothing. If it is seen as having any end, it will never truly begin. We cant stop here. We must go on. We must take the risks” (LeGuin, p. 296.) At the end, Shevek goes back to Anaress, as to him, it is yet a better alternative than the individualistic fiercely competitive society of Urras. Yet his return journey is not in defeat. It is the journey of the victor who has successfully opened Anaress to the outside world of the Hain and he becomes like the legendary Prometheus who stole fire for giving it to the mortals. Shevek, the unassuming solitary hero, in his own ways, remains the true revolutionary – a far better Odonian than his fellow Anarresti . He believes that revolution exists within the spirit of ones own self that is never ending, that does not fear taking risks. This is also the view expressed by Tom Moylan in “Demand the impossible: Science Fiction and the Utopian Imagination” and at the end of the day, this and only this seem to do justice to this incredible epic. References Brians, P. Study Guide for Ursula LeGuin:The Dispossessed (1974). April 2, 2003. Department of English, Washington State University, Pullman. Retrieved on 20 July 2009 from http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/science_fiction/dispossessed.html Le Guin, U. The Dispossessed: a novel. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Moylan, T. Demand and the Impossible – science fiction and the Utopian Imagination. New York: Taylor and Francis (Methuen), 1986. Plaw, A. Davis, L and Stillman, P. The New Utopian politics of Ursula K Le Guins -The Dispossessed. New York: Lexington Books, 2005. Read More