Essays on Le Guin

In The Left Hand of Darkness, gender is an intriguingly abstracted concept – the Gethenians are “ambisexual,” with neither male nor female gender identity. From the human character’s perspective, Genly Ai, this creates a distinct disconnect between him and the Gethenans, as his worldview and perspective is heavily predicated upon the socialized differences between man and woman he has imposed on himself by Earth society. In Genly’s journey from a ‘man’ to a ‘person,’ I see that quest as him not necessarily losing anything important or essential to his identity, but rather freeing himself from the social constraints ...

In the novel “The Left Hand of Darkness,” Ursula Le Guin states that the world is moving from alien politics to alien bodies. In the article, the writer argues that one has to concentrate on the walls that separate them from one another: both the physical and metaphorical barriers. The author further writes that one has to think of the body as the first wall that they have. She writes, ‘We all need our bodies’ (78). The paper states that the body structure has been used to create distinctions in all aspects of human living. For instance, the writer ...

Genly Ai has a single sexual designation in his culture and is confronted by a society that considers this to be a perversion. The concept of a perversion in this sense lies in unacceptable sexual behavior. The ability for the Gethenians to change their sexuality to complement their partner may have been an evolutionary result in order to maintain the continuance of the species. Therefore, having one sexuality is, to the Gethenians, a perversion that may threaten the species. Many types of animals may have become extinct due to the lack of a suitable mate for reproduction. For instance, ...

In essence, “The Dispossessed” by Ursula Le Guin discusses alienation as a way to acquire and maintain power over other people. According to the author, alienation is a violent way of taking power because one does not care or consider what other people would think about his or her move. They totally disregard the will of the people. Notably, alienation involves identifying individuals who differ with the person taking power and portraying them in the bad light so that they could be discriminated against (LeGuin 73). As a result, the individual uses that opportunity to seize power. For instance, ...

The Dispossessed is a utopian novel. The author of the novel is Ursula Le Guin. The reader can observe the story of two different planets that are compared to two walls at the beginning of the novel. There is Anarres and Urrasti societies. Anarres people once belonged to Urrasti. However, they have decided to make their own society separately from Urrasti. Anarres are the followers of Odo who is a philosopher. These people decided to live on the planet that does not have centralized control, religion or government. Urrasti and Anarres are the opposites of each other. In the ...

The world of Anarres in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed is remarkably alien to our world, in that it seems to be a perfect representation of the ideals of political anarchy and collectivism across an entire planet. Ostensibly, everything is meant to be the ideal vision of political and social freedom – there is no governmental authority, for instance. However, as the character Shevek learns in his own study of research into the ansible, the people of Anarres do not like when people deviate from the cultural consensus. Anarres as a society is particularly alien in that its ...

What is Disobedience? Analyzing Ursula K. Le Guin’s Short Story

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas There are various ways disobedience can be defined. In the article of Erich Fromm, entitled “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem”, he mentioned that there are varieties of obedience, wherein others are life affirming and others, destructive. Fromm proves that there are psychological and moral problems attached to obedience. From this comes the question: what exactly does disobedience mean? This article analyzes the short story written by Ursula K. Le Guin, entitled “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, using the essay of Erich Fromm. It appears that there are three ...

While America is still a relatively new country in comparison to many, it has a long and deep history. The question to look at is what exactly that history is. The aspects of American history that one learns or is taught are as diverse as those who inhabit the country. Considering that America has been called a melting pot, meaning it brings together many differing cultures, religions and races, there is a myriad of lenses which one can view this country. Often the history taught is white-washed, meaning it is through the perspective of the white man. This creates ...

Introduction

Literature has a way of connecting the reader’s imagination with a distant or even future place. It is the avenue where future inventions and even fears can be highlighted and it is important in directing the thinking and even the current actions of the humans today. The following are the works of art that tend to highlight some examples of dystopia that relate to human behavior and state of mind. James, P. D. The Children of Men. London: Faber and Faber, 1992. Print. The book highlights the story of a future world which is marred by political anarchy ...

In an effort to create more perfect societies, people have historically relied on conformity and rebellion as tools of human progress. Humans have for centuries been pre-occupied with questions on how to create the best society. The ultimate goal is utopia, a world that grants everybody freedom and happiness. Heroes are often called and expected to emerge when people slide towards a dark path. The reality of the trade offs involved in the creation of better societies are well presented in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Ralph Ellison’s “Battle Royal”. ...