The Dispossessed

[Warning: Mild Spoilers]
Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed is the story of a scientist on the moon-world of Anarres who is given the chance to go to Urras to share his findings and work at the most prestigious university. Shevek, our physicist friend, is nearing an understanding of the way that time can be simultaneously cyclical and linear. (In a previous post I discussed whether Le Guin's book may intentionally fit into the dialogue about the nature of time in fantasy books, so I won't go into that here, but I find it really fascinating.) Right from the start there is tension around Shevek's journey. The people of Urras and Anarres, once part of the same race/species of people from the main planet, know very little about each other. After an anarchist uprising led by a woman named Odo, a small group of Urrasti moved to the habitable Anarres to start their own civilization free of government. The book essentially uses Shevek as a method of transportation between two planets and people groups who have been out of contact for a couple of hundred years. By leaving home Shevek is made to contemplate not only the strengths and weaknesses of the capitalist society into which he enters, but also the benefits and flaws of the anarchist society he has left behind. It should be mentioned, for those who are unaware, that anarchy is not referring to lawless, destructive society, but a society without centralized power. Anarres is a planet of equality, whereas Urras is evidently divided up by class systems dependent upon the wealth and resources of nations as well as individuals. On Anarres nothing is taken for granted and everyone shares the responsibility of maintaining society.
Le Guin tells the story in alternating chapters from Shevek's present (the storyline of his journey to Urras) and his past (going from childhood to the events that led to him leaving). This serves several narrative purposes. First, it tells the story in a manner reminiscent of Shevek's theory of time. It is moving ever forward, yet every other chapter goes back in time and the things that happen in his past have themes which resonate with current narrative events. Second, it provides a way of comparing the two planets and finding the similarities between both while highlighting the weaknesses of both societies. Ultimately, the message that comes from this is that humanity is selfish and it shuns that which is different. Despite very different social and governmental systems, those who do not conform on both planets are pushed away. Shevek and his friends find themselves being excluded and sometimes intentionally shipped out to labour jobs far from most of the other Anarresti. The poor on Urras live in their own part of the city where the rich choose not to go. Shevek begins to realize too that the non-government system of Anarres might be more of a fiction than a fact, although few will admit to this. However, he finds that the greediness of the Urrasti has corrupt their government as well.
A secondary theme in this novel is environmental. The people of Anarres have a habitable planet, but it has never been a very hostile environment. It is mostly desert and they value every resource they have. The people on Urras have lots of resources, but they are squandered them and fought over. Perhaps it is more largely about consumption, actually, as the wasteful consumption of the Urrasti capitalist society can tie back into this. For this reason it would seem that Le Guin ultimately favours that anarchist society. After all, Shevek returns home (but maybe that has as much to do with being with his family as it does with preferring the Anarresti way of life).Yet neither model is without it's faults, but that is because humanity is imperfect.
And maybe that is the message of the book. It does often feel like the whole text is focussed on understanding these concepts, although not in such a way that it is obviously or poorly done. The novel is good, but the story feels more conceptual than entertaining at times. That is Le Guin's writing style in other works as well, though. She doesn't write these exaggerated stories of battles or uprisings to illustrate her message for us, she simply takes us on a journey with a character whose experience is always one of marginalization, no matter where he is, and through him were are able to question society and humanity.