The Word for World is Forest: Chapter One Summary & Analysis

Apparently, there are native life forms on New Tahiti, and the humans have enslaved them—Davidson claims ownership over “his” creechie, who is reluctantly doing Davidson’s chores. Davidson’s desire to “tame” the planet is therefore not just about nature but about other species, too, which implies that he desires violent control over others. Because readers view these events from Davidson’s perspective, the novella doesn’t explain why Ben stares vacantly. But as readers learn more about the natives, Ben’s reaction will become clearer.

Again, women don’t have much agency in this human society, and they exist to serve men. Based on Davidson’s musings, readers can assume that “Colony Brides” are meant to bear children and that “Recreation Staff” are meant for casual sex with men, which is why Davidson wants to claim a woman from the latter group.

Davidson definitively emerges as an antagonist here, as he implies not only that he’d like to deforest the planet but that he’d like to wipe out the native “creechies”—a desire that grows over the course of the novella. Furthermore, Davidson’s boast that he can “tame” creechies implies that he has acted and will act violently toward them. The humans seem to be colonists on New Tahiti, so Davidson’s belief that the planet is “made for men” is both factually untrue and indicative of the humans’ desire for dominance. Davidson’s society supports this desire, as human men have power over both women and the natives on New Tahiti.

Apparently, Davidson’s dismissive attitude toward New Tahiti’s wildlife isn’t universal among the humans, as Kees Van Sten is more concerned about the deer than he is about the men. Notably, the men don’t seem to be hunting the deer for food, and instead, this seems to be another way for them to feel dominant—much like Davidson enjoys feeling dominant over Ben. This passage reveals that Davidson is part of a military complex and hints that while Davidson deeply values his masculinity, this human society doesn’t have the same gender and sexual norms as readers’ society, as the Army itself apparently facilitates “hygienic homosexuality.” While some elements of this human society are recognizable, others are heightened or distorted.

Readers learn the colonists’ reason for being on New Tahiti in this passage: Earth’s natural resources are gone, and they need to mine New Tahiti’s. This makes it all the more shocking that Davidson doesn’t value the forest as much as Kees does, since Earth has already lost their flora and fauna. Davidson might think that he’s putting “Earth first,” but clearly the humans weren’t always thinking in those terms.

Not only are Earth’s trees gone, but their wildlife seems to be gone as well. Deer are likely overpopulated rather than endangered in places where the novella’s readers live—so if even deer are extinct and replaced with “robo” versions of themselves in this universe, most other animals must be as well. Davidson seems to view violence as “natural,” a belief that the novella will complicate. Finally, this passage introduces the concept of what it means to be “realistic”: Davidson’s definition of realism seems to be based on the assumption that men are naturally and rightfully dominant over others.

Davidson’s belief that there was “nothing” on the planet when it was covered by forest is tongue-in-cheek, as there’s literally nothing left in the areas that the humans have deforested. This passage also confirms that the colonists are here to take New Tahiti’s wood, then farm the land. The fact that the land must be clear in order to farm it suggests that they plan to deforest large swaths of the planet, which will likely be a point of tension between the humans and natives.

The origin story of Earth differentiates the novella’s version of Earth from readers’. Ursula Le Guin wrote many books that explored this origin story; in her unofficial “Hainish Cycle” (which this novella is part of), a planet called Hain colonized Earth years earlier, which is what Davidson references here. Although Hain also colonized New Tahiti, Earth-based humans are now in charge of that colonization. The fact that “creechies” descended from monkeys suggests that they’re genealogically related to humans—a fact that’s meant to make readers sympathize with the creechies and question the morality of humans enslaving them.

Part of Le Guin’s inspiration for the novella came from the Vietnam War, and Davidson’s apparently regular use of marijuana seems to be a direct reference to American soldiers in Vietnam. This passage also reveals that, much like Davidson’s attitude toward nature, his attitude toward the creechies isn’t universal, as some men are uncomfortable with dominating the creechies. Davidson’s insistence that the creechies aren’t human seems questionable, because again, they’re related to humans through a common ancestor.

Not only have the humans enslaved the creechies, but they also apparently assault the creechie women. Because of this, readers are led to distrust Davidson’s assertion that the creechies don’t feel pain—it seems likely that the women simply didn’t express this pain verbally. Davidson’s description of his altercation with a creechie is significant, particularly because he implies that the creechie attacked him unprovoked. Later in the novella, readers will learn that there’s more to the story.

This passage reveals that the colonists are following a code of conduct, and they’ve excused their enslavement of the creechies by claiming that the creechies are volunteers. Again, creechies and humans share ancestry, so Davidsons’ claim that the creechies can’t be assimilated is false—although the creechies apparently look different from humans. Again, Davidson’s eagerness to hurt the creechies seems to be greater than other men’s, which positions him as an antagonist. It's not yet clear why the creechies are afraid of drugs, but as readers become familiar with the natives’ culture, this becomes obvious.

In this passage, readers learn that Davidson’s desire for dominance is tied to “patriotism”—the novella seems to suggest that the colonists are motivated by nationalism, but nationalism for a planet rather than a country. And again, women clearly don’t have a lot of agency in this society, as the men treat them like sexual objects rather than people.

Lyubov is an “intellectual,” though it’s not yet clear what his job is. Nonetheless, his role on New Tahiti is clearly different from Davidson’s military position, which is why Davidson thinks he’s “girly.” However, this difference in duties doesn’t explain Lyubov’s hatred of Davidson, and Davidson doesn’t seem to understand this hatred, either—instead, he assumes that Lyubov is threatened by his masculinity. Later in the novella, readers learn that there’s more to the story than Davidson discloses here, which suggests that his narration is selective. Once again, women seem to have no agency—these women were supplied by the Administration, suggesting that they don’t choose their sexual partners.

Upon seeing the wreckage at Smith, Davidson’s automatic instinct is to blame members of what he sees as another species (the “humanoids”). This is another example of planetary nationalism in the novella, which also explains Davidson’s open hostility toward the creechies. Readers don’t yet know whether or not Davidson is right that the “humanoids” attached Smith, but it’s already clear that his instincts are rooted in his own desire for dominance and superiority over other species.

Davidson still sticks with his theory that this attack came from “invaders”—an ironic viewpoint, since the creechies likely view humans as invaders. But the fact that the only people Davidson has seen so far are the creechies, and the fact that Davidson already knows one of these creechies to be violent, pokes holes in his theory and suggests that the attack may not have come from the Hainish. This passage also reveals that the violent creechie is connected to Lyubov, which hints that there’s more to Lyubov’s hatred of Davidson than just Davidson’s masculinity.

Because readers have been introduced to some seemingly important humans at Smith, like Kees and Ok, the novella invites readers to be as surprised as Davidson that these characters are dead. Their deaths hint that the story won’t be centered on humans and their superiority over other species, as much as characters like Davidson want this to be the case. Obviously, this creechie remembers Davidson as well as Davidson remembers him, and readers now grasp why their first encounter was significant. Apparently, creechies are nonviolent, which means that the creechie’s attack on Davidson—and his recent attack on Smith—was out of character. This hints that the attacks were provoked and not random. Readers don’t yet know why the creechie brings up his wife, but her involvement in this conflict will later explain the events that have unfolded thus far.

Readers are still viewing events from Davidson’s perspective, so nothing the creechie does (including singing) makes sense. For now, readers are as disoriented as Davidson, who clearly feels emasculated by his position below the creechies. This passage introduces Davidson’s gun as a symbol, which will come to represent humans’ innate capacity for violence. The creechie steals this gun from Davidson, so the fact that he doesn’t use it on Davidson suggests that he’s making a conscious choice to act nonviolently.

Davidson believed he was in control of Ben, but apparently, Ben was working to bring down Smith the whole time, likely providing inside information to other creechies. In fact, he might be the one to shoot at Davidson here. This passage continues to hint that the reason Lyubov hates Davidson might have something to do with Selver, since Lyubov apparently saved Selver. This passage also demonstrates that most of the humans weren’t willing to connect with the creechies, not even bothering to use their names, though they apparently knew them.

Davidson’s first instinct after feeling emasculated is to retaliate with violence, which is a character trait that will have consequences later on (particularly because, in this passage, he isn’t authorized to drop bombs). Davidson is also willing to lie to save his own skin, because he already knows that the creechies didn’t wait for him to leave—Selver was surprised that he was alive. And even though Selver just showed Davidson mercy, Davidson continues to fantasize about dominating the creechies, which demonstrates his narrow worldview and unwavering prejudice.