In The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, Le Guin creates a setting of two diametrically opposed planets. The protagonist, Shevek, is from the anarchist and separatist Anarres. Shevek wants to travel to the archist mother planet Urras to rekindle social revolution on Anarres, bring social revolution to Urras, and to advance his knowledge and theory of physics. By the close of the novel it seems probably that he has achieved the first goal, and he has definitely achieved the last. However, despite the time he spends on Urras, he fails to create meaningful change there. In fact, by the close of the novel I was left feeling as if Shevek had merely given up on Urras, and moved on.
First, although Urras is originally portrayed as a binary opposite to Anarres, there are many cases in which Le Guin deliberately problemitizes or blurs the presumed differences. By establishing commonalities between the planets, Le Guin creates an expectation for the traveler Shevek to advance both societies. Shevek finds Oiie’s family particularly redeeming within Urrasti society, and is moved to participate in a majority revolution of the poor. These acts seem to support my expectation as a reader that the protagonist will find a way to aid both societies.
When the revolution on A-IO fails, Shevek flees to the Terran embassy. He has no further contact with any revolutionaries before leaving the planet, and claims Urras is hell, that it is impossible to change those who do not wish to change. I fail to understand how this realization fits in with the rest of The Dispossessed. It seems that the large revolution indicates that the oppressed majority is ready for change. Furthermore, what is the purpose of such a lengthy sojourn in Urras if Shevek is ultimately there only to spur change on Anarres and complete his physics theory? Is Urras merely an explanation for the extradition of the new physics theory of a novel composed around the set-up for the technological novum which defines Le Guin’s chronologically later books? The inconclusive future for Urras seems to split Shevek’s three goals, while attaching importance in relation to her overall megatext to the completion of his physics theory, and to the novel itself in the furthering of Anarres’ social movement. Any change in Urras is minimal, and the marginalization of this element of the novel leads to an overall feeling of disconnect in the work.
How do you reconcile Shevek’s Anarresti ideal of constant revolution with him giving up on Urrasti reform?
Do you see further significance in the inclusion of Urras in the novel, or do you think the same themes of the novel could be expressed in an equally effective manner in another setting foreign to Anarres?
Is there some purpose in leaving Urras’ future unfinished in the novel?
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February 24th, 2010 at 2:01 am
I’d agree that it was strange that the situation on Urras is left so unresolved, but I’d also have to point out that the situation on Annares is as well. Just as we as readers don’t see any lasting changes made to Urras as a planet, we don’t see what is going to happen with the revolution that Shevek is bringing about with his Syndicate on Anarres. We know that he has gained more support, but how much more is more? Does he have an army of people ready to keep the blood of revolution pumping or does he have a mere handful of eager anarchists? Le Guin is most likely mum on these things because like the rest of the novel, this book is somewhat of a criticism on the world in the 1970s. There was no way to tell at this point in time if the world would “get its act together” and start doing things to create utopia or if we would keep on going in our same direction making minimal changes until we destroyed ourselves (like Terra). I think here lies the real purpose of Urras. It exists in the novel to show a (large) glimpse into the Anarresti’s past and remind Shevek of the importance on returning to the concept of constant revolution. What I think I’m getting at is that Urras was the only place that Shevek could have traveled to. Another similar planet would not have worked because his purpose in visiting Urras ultimately was to revisit the Anarresti’s past and learn more about his present from it.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:36 am
I would agree that the novel is a criticism of the 1970s, and that Urras is representative of that. However, while we don’t know if Anarres will have a future, it seems that in Shevek’s eyes Urras definitely does not. If Urras is a reminder of Anarres’ need to return to constant revolution, why does Shevek have so many mundane encounters on Urras? It seems to me that if Urras is there only to remind Shevek of his planet’s past, a more concise description of his stay there would be preferable. I felt that at times the chapters where Shevek was in Urras dragged, and feel that on Urras it is not merely an unresolved situation, but an abruptly dropped aspect of the novel. Why is so much time devoted to developing a planet which Shevek dismisses in two paragraphs? I saw only two ideas emerge about the Urras situation. First, Shevek thought Urras couldn’t change unless the people wanted to change. Second, he was wrong to even attempt changing Urras, or visiting, except as it helped make his point about personal freedom on Anarres. However, there was a large revolution on Urras; people did want to change. Why, then, does Shevek feel he was wrong to try?
February 24th, 2010 at 2:37 am
I never really saw that Shevek had “given up” on the Urrasti reform; rather, the focus shifted towards Anarresti flaws and aimed at finding solutions for them in form of revolution. Yet, I do see where you feel as if the Urrasti subject was abruptly dropped. Once the public protest ceased to existence, Shevek runs straight into Terran administration without so much as a backing glance. This could imply that the importance lies on his society’s flaws, where the probability to stimulate change is greater than in Urras, a foreign land that he praises yet simultaneously disapproves of its methods and cultures, and Urras just may shine a different light upon the situation entirely.
Maybe the cursory omission of Urras’ future reflects the continuous path in revolution happening in both worlds. Maybe Le Guin didn’t find it necessary to include either of the two’s futures. Maybe, Le Guin wanted the readers to deduce their own conclusions, be open to the possibilities of Urras’ future in their own terms.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:59 am
I think that Shevek didn’t exactly leave Urras to its own devices so much as realize that there’s nothing more he can do for Urras. I understand the thought that he just gives up on Urras without taking into consideration the apparent majority of people willing to change the society, but Shevek can do nothing unless those in power somehow lose military ability or change their minds. While he could have decided to stay on Urras and organize the resistance movement better, he would have to devote his entire life to trying to change Urras. I think we should keep in mind that Anarres is his home, so he is going to be more focused on fixing that before an alien planet. Plus, Shevek is just a physicist. Aside from random bouts of eloquence, Shevek doesn’t really actively take part in the Syndicat of Initiative on Anarres; it is mostly Bedap who does the political work. Shevek spends most of his time writing his physics books.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:41 am
I do agree with your statement about how Shevek fled A-Io right after the revolution failed. He was afraid and now saw how messed up Urras really was. He wanted to go back to Anarres. Although he didn’t like every aspect of Anarresti society, he was ready to return. Urras was hell to him. But saying that Urras was not ready for change I think is incorrect. As you said, there was a big population in the revolution forces and they were fighting for a change. Although they lost, they needed to keep pushing. I think Shevek showed a lot of fear as he ran away from A-Io. We need to remember that the most important thing to Shevek is his physics. He is constantly needing to have a new breakthrough and usually this happens after a grand event. After the revolution failed (a grand event) what better time to continue his work and hopefully figure out how to move faster than light. Shevek realizes that Urras isn’t the place where he wants to do this and that is why he returns to Anarres.