Race of the Future

Ursula K. Le Guin’s Terrans are almost all of mixed race descent, yet nonetheless show a high degree of racist mentality. Be it towards the Athsheans (derogatorily termed Creechies) or towards each other, the novel transplants the sort of racist ideology that would look out of place in the modern world into the far future. 

No better is this conveyed than in the character of Davidson. Amongst his chauvinistic, militaristic and myriad other negative traits, Davidson despises the Athsheans and distrusts his fellow Terrans. Furthermore, he believes himself superior due to his ‘euraf’ (European and African) heritage. Davidson’s race is curious in that, being of African and European descent, the reader would imagine him to be inclined against racism. Nonetheless, Davidson voices his distrust of 'Asiatics' on numerous occasions. In Le Guin’s universe, rather than resulting in a unity of Terran  peoples, the mixing of races simply divided the Terran race as a whole along new lines. Age-old bigotry remains intact.  

If Davidson's suspicions about his fellow Terrans are bigoted, his attitudes towards the  Athsheans are utterly repugnant. Superiority mixed with contempt, even outright hatred, summarize his feelings as regards the 'Creechies'. Such attitudes are virtually the same as those a 19th century Dutch or English colonist on the Bushveldt would see the native Matebele, Xhosa, or Zulu; colonialist without the veneer of a 'civilizing mission'.

Le Guin presents assumptions of superiority of one’s own group over others as innate to human (or rather, Terran) nature. Even in a place far removed from earth in time and space, some human beings remain incapable of overcoming their fear and hatred of the ‘other'. The and fear and hatred by a few, as demonstrated in the climactic events of the book, lead to dire consequences for the many.

Cain is Able to speak

Le Guin's 'The World for World is Forest' ends in a remarkably interesting way; Selver, after having led a rebellion against the Terran invaders and gained recognition and protection from an intergalactic government, remains pessimistic about his race's future. He says at the close of the novel, "'Maybe after I die maybe people will be as they were before I was born, and before you came. But I do not think they will.'" His shortness with the more than reasonable Leppanon who had just assured him retribution for the wrongdoings inflicted upon his people highlights the fear rooted in Selver's speech. This is evidence that Selver had encountered a new concept for the Ashtheans that is familiar to the Terrans, terror. He knows that dreams live on after in dreams and in language. He fears that his people have learned the dream and word for murder and can do it but have not yet felt grief as Selver had. This indicates that the core concepts of humanity which are impressed upon these innocent Eden dwelling creatures are murder, grief, and terror. This is somewhat reminiscent of the story of Cain and Able where Cain commits murder and after having been punished by God feels grief for his actions and in turn fears god and experiences terror.

Interesting Parallelsim between the Athsheans and the Humans

between pages 56 and 57, Selver gives a valid reason why the yumens, the humans, need to leave their forest. Davidson said a similar thing about the Creechies, what Selver is, on pages 19-20. I feel that Selver's logic is a lot more sound than Davidson's because Selver is thinking for the good of his species, he wants to preserve what forest they have left. Davidson, on the other hand, came from a separate planet that the humans probably destroyed on their own to try to colonize their "New Tahiti". I'm seeing the humans as very selfish if i think about how we consider the Tahiti we know as a vacation spot. Politically i feel that it is wrong for the humans to just invade this world that is not their own, and for their own self interest. In Davidson's eyes, we saw Selver as a kind of untamed beast that randomly attacked him continuously. But in Selver's perspective we learn that the attack was brought on by Davidson raping Selver's wife, an act that directly lead to her death. From these two perspectives, one of Davidson and one of Selver, we see the same planet in different regards. I am expecting some kind of epic collision between the two since at the moment, these perspectives are being conveyed at a great distance from the other species.

The Word for World is Forest

In this science fiction novel there is a reoccurring concept, which is dreams. As discussed in lecture there is a creation of language in the novel and in my perspective I think that the dreams in the novel is one of the many different translations of language used. The word dream also mean roots to the Athsheans and roots are connected to the forest, which to the Athsheans forest means world leading to the conclusion that the forest is the world for the Athsheans. By having dreams the Athsheans are communicating to the forest and that communication brings the Athsheans and the forest together as one. An example of this communication would be that Selver had dreams of fire, war, and killings therefore he felt that it was necessary to fight back against the humans to reclaim peace in the forest. These dreams showed events and were used as guidance for Athsheans. The Athsheans will follow these dreams, in other words enact them, as demonstrated by Selver because dreams are the roots of the forest and therefore are connections between the forest and the Athsheans. 

The Word for Anti-Colonialism is Ursula Le Guin

The Word for World is Forest is an obvious criticism of the "take what we can get"-style colonialism we humans have been so traditionally fond of. Drawing parallels between past colonies on Earth and the impending "taming" of New Tahiti, Ursula Le Guin expresses her malcontent with the self-entitled attitude our species tends to exhibit. Details in the book in regards to both character relationships and the environment are unfortunate reflections of our past, a disconcerting concept given that the story takes place in our future. From the grim description of a cement coated Earth left barren from our ravaging of its natural materials to the not-so-subtle racism Davidson abuses the "creechies" with, The Word for World is Forest offers a striking view into what humanity may be doomed to repeat.

The Word for World is Forest, is a piece critiquing the Vietnam War. Asthsheans are humanoid and are related to humans. Asthsheans’ complex set of ideas, morality of unleashing the evil dream and the inability to process grief and guilt share similarities with colonists. The White Man’s Burden was used to justify the actions of Europeans. Vietnam was colonized by the French for about 100 years. Colonies were seen as a symbol for power and used for raw resources, trade, and the people were often converted.  The intention of colonizing was good however the colonists were unable to see the destruction and bad that was caused as well. Instilling values in another set of people, teaching a dichotomy in which the white man was always right. The effects of colonialism are still here today. 

The Word for World is Forest

As I was reading this book, I felt that it could be related to a lot of things in human history. Slavery was evident and Davidson's attitude of conquering a new world is something that exists now and before. Even though this book is in a different setting and time, it reminds the reader that slavery and thoughts like Davidson's can still exist. I'm sure that people can describe slavery and Davidson's thoughts in a less negative way, but this book shows the dangers of having those things happen. I guess this really brings up the question of if we can ever rid ourselves of those things. I don’t think we can but are there different ways of avoiding it?