Treatment of Disturbed Individuals in "The Word for the World is Forest"

           The concept of the psychopathic or insane individual is examined in a unique manner in Ursula le Guin's "The Word for the World is Forest". The concept of a deranged individual is explored implicitly in the character of Davidson, and more explicitly in the discussion between Selver and the other Athsheans. In this way, Le Guin can present a character who, while not classically asocial, is definitely considered a violent and malignant force among humans and Athsheans alike.
         Davidson's character exhibits a mixture of extreme determination, anthropocentrism and flexible or nonexistent morality which makes him the driving force of the beginning of the novel. There is a very strong implication that, in spite of all his pride in humanity, a person like Davidson could only exist on New Tahiti, away from the restrictions of society. In this environment, Davidson's casual brutality and callousness are allowed full reign, cloaked in the guise of good intentions. The other humans have a complex relationship with Davidson, but none of them can be said to have more than a guarded respect for him. The fact that most seem to have a negative opinion of Davidson is overshadowed by the tremendously self-congradualtory tone of his internal monologue. It is Davidson's own complacency which makes him at all tolerable as a character, since it masks the more reprehensible aspects of his personality, which only appear at intervals. However, there can be little doubt that his character is conceited, bigoted, and pathologically devoid of empathy. From the human perspective, Davidson is a dangerous individual for who the only place is the "wild" frontier of an alien world.
         To the Athsheans, Davidson seems to exemplify all that is wrong or "insane" in humanity. The notion that Davidson is the archetype for the worst of humanity is implied by the fact that nearly every negative quality of humans that Selver describes can be seen in the thoughts or actions of Davidson. The continual refrain of the Athsheans is that the "yumans" must be insane to kill one another as though they were not sentient. identical beings. To the Athsheans, it is insane for humans to possess the capacity to murder one another, whether or not they act it. In this case, Davidson best represents the impulses of all humans that Athsehans find so repugnant.
         Finally, it is interesting to note that on a fundamental level the human's and Athsheans agree on the best way to deal with deranged or psychopathic individuals such as Davidson. According to Major Lyubov, the Athsheans abandon psychotics on isolated islands, and in a similar manner, the Terran government has sent Davidson to New Tahiti. However, while other humans see Davidson as a anomaly, the Athsheans see all humans, by virtue of their violent destructive impulses, as insane in some degree.