Previous
Personification
Definition of Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of satire, but satirists can take... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians, are often the subject of... read full definition
Satire is the use of humor, irony, sarcasm, or ridicule to criticize something or someone. Public figures, such as politicians... read full definition
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—Urras:
Urras is an imagined world that serves as a satirical representation of the real world. On Urras, A-Io serves as a representation of capitalist America. Shevek is a foreigner to Urras, so he experiences Ioti society as strange, confusing, and at times frightening. The very things that startle Shevek, however, might be uncomfortably familiar to an American reader: the prevalence of commerce, the subjugation of women, the opulence of the wealthy, the stark class divides, and more.
Something as simple as a household pet is a miracle to a man from a planet with no land animals. Take, for example, Shevek's trip into Nio Esseia's retail district to be fitted by a tailor:
The whole experience had been so bewildering to him that he put it out of mind as soon as possible, but he had dreams about it for months afterwards, nightmares. Saemtenevia Prospect was two miles long, and it was a solid mass of people, traffic, and things: things to buy, things for sale. Coats, dresses, gowns, robes, trousers, breeches, shirts, blouses, hats, shoes, stockings, scarves, shawls, vests, capes, umbrellas, clothes to wear while sleeping, while swimming, while playing games, while at an afternoon party, while at an evening party, while at a party in the country [...]
The list goes on. What might otherwise be a perfectly normal shopping district becomes, in Shevek's eyes, an abomination of excess. The comprehensive description makes the many goods for sale (which an American reader or an Ioti citizen might take for granted) appear exorbitant. Taking in every piece of the puzzle individually, Shevek is overwhelmed by the scale. The effect is comical, as a mundane shopping trip is elevated to absurdity.
Yet Shevek is not completely naive. Ioti society is not just jarring due to its unfamiliarity, but because it is antithetical to every societal value that Shevek holds. He has principled reasons to oppose the formulation of Urrasti society and strong philosophical foundations for his beliefs. Every element of Urrasti society has a common theme, one that relates to a core symbolic element of the novel: walls. Urras has barriers that Anarres lacks. These literal and metaphorical barriers prevent social mobility, restrict access to resources, and broadly stratify society depending on how much one possesses. The very fact of private property is a cause for inequality on Urras. The long list of clothing for different occasions, in this context, can be seen as the result of artificial barriers constructed in order to sell more clothing. Why should it be necessary, Shevek or any Anarresti might ask, to wear different outfits at different times of day, especially when the cost of a single coat might exceed the yearly living wage by multiple factors? A-Io's societal structure resembles that of our world, drawing the reader's attention to the inequalities present in their own society in a way that a more realist story might not.
Related Themes:
