Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Word for World is Forest, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Violence, War, and Colonization
Nature and Ecology
Communication and Translation
Gender and Masculinity
Summary
Analysis
Raj Lyubov has a migraine. He’d supposedly been cured of migraines during his Army psychotherapy sessions, and he’s taken medicine to stop this one, but it won’t go away. He wonders what the Athsheans would do to cure a migraine, but really, they’d never have one—they’d daydream the signs of it away. Lyubov tries to daydream like Selver taught him. Once, Lyubov once hooked Selver up to an EEG, and Selver showed him how to turn his alpha-rhythms on and off. But Lyubov can’t do it now.
Earlier, Selver noted that there were things he and Lyubov couldn’t understand about each other, even though they could understand each other’s languages. Dreaming seems to be one of those things, because Lyubov views the Athsheans’ dream states as “daydreams” and suggests that the Athsheans would dream to fix an ailment. This seems to be an oversimplification, as dreaming isn’t merely a tool or a cure—it’s is a way for Athsheans to translate spiritual concepts and work through their feelings.
Themes
Lyubov recalls that the Athsheans burned Smith Camp two days ago, an attack that killed 200 men—everyone except Davidson. That’s why Lyubov’s pills can’t reach the center of his migraine to stop it: his migraine begins with that attack, which destroyed his certainty about the “High Intelligence Life Forms of World 41.” Over the five Earth years he’s been here, he’s been certain that the Athsheans couldn’t kill men, either their men or Lyubov’s, and he’d written many scientific papers claiming this. They’re all incorrect now, so he missed something.
Lyubov’s migraines (which will recur throughout the novella) seem to be linked to his internal tension and guilt. Here, Lyubov feels guilty because his research led the humans to believe that the Athsheans were nonviolent. This confirms that Selver’s attack on Davidson at Central must have been the first instance of Athshean violence against a human. This also lends further credence to the idea that violence begets violence, as Davidson’s violence motivated Selver’s (both at Central and at Smith). Lyubov’s research was both correct and incorrect: the Athsheans could kill, but they chose not to until the humans modeled unforgivable violence.
Themes
Before he heads to the meeting at HQ, Lyubov takes a vodka shot, which calms him. When he gets to the conference room, the Shackleton crew is already there, including Commander Yung and some men in non-Navy uniforms. Lyubov is surprised to see they are non-Terran humans. When he introduces himself, he finds that one of the men is a Hairy Cetian named Mr. Or, and one is a Hainishman named Mr. Lepennon. Lepennon compliments Lyubov’s research on the Athsheans’ sleep. Lyubov assumes that the two men have spent time on Earth, but their role at this meeting is unclear.
Because this chapter introduces a new human perspective, Davidson’s worldview becomes more villainous in contrast. Not only does Lyubov not use the word “creechie”—which readers can now assume is derogatory—but he also refers to the Hainish and Cetians as “non-Terran humans,” rather than “humanoids” (Davidson’s term). It remains unclear whose perspective is more common among the colonists (or where leaders like Commander Yung fit in), but clearly, Davidson has an unusually strong grudge against anyone who isn’t like him.
Themes
The room continues to fill with personnel, including the colony ecologist (Gosse) and Captain Davidson. The purpose of this meeting is obviously to find out who’s to blame for the Smith incident, and while Lyubov knows that it’s him, he glares at Davidson. Commander Yung begins the meeting by saying that he initially came to World 41 to drop off new colonists, but now the attack at Smith has to be addressed—particularly because, as the colonists would have learned soon enough, World 41’s status as a colony was already in flux and this could impact it.
While Lyubov’s research probably gave the colonists a false sense of security, he’s arguably right to blame Davidson for the Smith massacre, since Davidson’s murder of Thele started a chain reaction of violence. Moreover, it’s not obvious what the colonists would have done differently if Lyubov’s research had shown that the Athsheans were capable of violence—the humans might have acted even more violently toward them, which could have caused retaliation anyway. Throughout the novella, humans like Davidson have viewed their logging work as vital, so to hear that the colony might be shut down is another perspective shift for readers.
Themes
Get the entire The Word for World is Forest LitChart as a printable PDF.
Yung confirms that everyone has heard Davidson’s recorded report on the Smith events, and he invites them to ask Davidson questions. His question is whether Davidson had permission to set fire to Smith when he returned, and Davidson admits that he didn’t. Lepennon asks Davidson if those under his command at Smith were happy, and Davidson says yes. Lepennon wonders, if they were happy, then what caused some of the men to massacre the other men and destroy Smith. Lyubov disrupts the resulting silence by saying that Lepennon misunderstood: the native Athsheans employed at Smith joined with the forest Athsheans to destroy Smith, and the colonists weren’t involved. Davidson referred to the Athsheans as “creechies” in his report.
Davidson’s decision to bomb Smith after the massacre was an impulsive one that’s beginning to have consequences here and will continue to have consequences later on. Lepennon’s misunderstanding is almost comical, as it disrupts the human-centric worldview that characters like Davidson have. Here, Lepennon views the humans, not the Athsheans, as loose cannons. Ironically, Davidson’s derogatory treatment of the Athsheans in his report is what led Lepennon to draw this conclusion.
Themes
Lepennon admits that he misunderstood, as he thought “creechie” was the name for a lesser Terran caste. He’d assumed the Athsheans were nonviolent, which makes him more confused than ever about what motivated the attack. Mr. Or dryly wonders whether Davidson was including the native people when he said that everyone at Smith was happy, and when Lepennon poses this question, Davidson calmly says that the native people were happy, and that they were never asked to do anything unusual.
Again, Lepennon’s confusion disrupts Davidson’s human-centric worldview, as he discusses Terrans as though they’re aliens. Davidson’s claim that the Athsheans were happy at Smith is false, but it’s not clear whether or not he's consciously lying, since Davidson has a low opinion of the Athsheans and claimed that they couldn’t feel pain. That said, his insistence that the Athsheans couldn’t feel pain might have just reflected his subconscious anger at Selver’s attack on him.
Themes
This interaction makes Lyubov realize that his protests regarding the treatment of the natives have not been sent to the Shackleton along with his studies. Yung has likely seen the creechie-pens where the humans keep the Athsheans prisoner, but Lepennon and Or wouldn’t know anything about Terran colonies. Lyubov wonders why Lepennon and Or are at this meeting and whether Yung wanted them to be here, since they’re asking revealing questions. Maybe they heard about the violence and asked to come on-planet.
This passage clarifies the positions of the humans in the novel. Apparently, the non-Terran humans have no idea that the Athsheans have been enslaved, while leaders like Commander Yung are aware of it but choose not to publicize it. Lyubov even hints that Yung would have wanted to keep Lepennon and Or away from this meeting so they wouldn’t find out about the Athsheans. Furthermore, because the humans on the colony haven’t sent Lyubov’s protests against enslavement to their higher-ups, it’s safe to assume that Lyubov is one of few humans on the colony who wants to free the Athsheans, a viewpoint that isolates him.
Themes
Lyubov feels suddenly excited by the idea that Lepennon and Or weren’t supposed to be here. He asks Davidson to confirm that one of the natives who attacked him was Selver Thele, who has a grudge against Davidson. Davidson is unaware of this grudge, and Lyubov tells him that Selver’s wife died immediately after having sex with Davidson. Selver blames Davidson (which is also why he attacked Davidson back in Centralville).
Earlier, Davidson claimed that Selver attacked him out of nowhere, and he seemingly had no reason to lie. His conversation with Ok implied that the humans regularly rape the Athshean women, and they probably wouldn’t be ashamed to admit to it. This suggests that Davidson didn’t know that his assault on Thele caused Selver to attack him initially and has—directly or indirectly—prompted all of the Athsheans’ violence thus far. This establishes a contrast between the Athsheans’ relationship to violence and the humans’: the humans are carelessly violent, whereas the Athsheans understand that violence will fundamentally change their society.
Themes
Lyubov explains that Selver’s hatred of Davidson might have partially motivated the recent attack at Smith. Athsheans are capable of violence, which he knows because adolescents who haven’t learned “competitive singing” sometimes wrestle. Selver once tried to kill Davidson back in Central, and at the time, Lyubov assumed it was a one-time, grief-based thing—clearly, he was wrong. He asks Davidson to confirm that when the Athsheans confronted him, he ended up on his back, which embarrasses Davidson (something Lyubov feels slightly bad about). Accusing Davidson of rape and murder only supports Davidson’s image of himself, but this is different.
Throughout the novella, violence has always prompted more violence, so Lyubov’s belief that Selver could act violently once and then never again seems misguided. This passage also confirms that singing is a substitute for combat in Athshean society, and that normally, adolescents are trained out of violence. This suggests that they don’t have a model for violence ordinarily; the humans’ presence provided one. Lyubov’s guilt about making Davidson admit to his own vulnerability is odd, since Lyubov despises Davidson—Lyubov is clearly empathetic, but he may also feel lingering loyalty to the humans, even though he’s aligned himself with the Athsheans. Finally, his belief that Davidson would be ashamed to appear weak but unashamed of rape or murder again shows that Davidson overvalues his masculinity to a dangerous degree.
Themes
Lyubov asks Davidson if his head was thrown back or to the side, since Davidson might have been in a position that the Athsheans would interpret as surrender. Someone is in “prone position” when they’re on their back with their eyes shut and throat exposed, and it would be impossible for an Athshean to kill them. Lyubov asks Davidson if Selver sang, but Davidson doesn’t know. According to Lyubov, ritualized singing is the Athsheans’ stand-in for combat. Selver might have sung over Davidson either because he couldn’t kill him or because he’d rather win nonviolently; the distinction is important.
Lyubov’s description of the “prone position” partly explains why Selver let Davidson go. However, Lyubov could be wrong that it would be “impossible” for an Athshean to kill a human who surrenders—which he admits when he suggests that Selver might have wanted to win nonviolently. So far, it seems that the Athsheans’ nonviolence is a choice rather than an innate characteristic, which makes their decision to act violently all the more significant.
Themes
Lyubov says that before yesterday, there was almost no such thing as rape or murder for the Athsheans, though accidents have happened (the Athsheans isolate perpetrators on islands). Lepennon is excited by the idea of a nonviolent society with no war and wonders what the cost is, and Lyubov says that the cost may be progress, as Athshean society is stagnant. But the Athsheans are adapting. Up until now, the Athsheans have treated the colonists like men, and the colony has responded violently and enslaved them. Now, the Athsheans might have decided that the colonizers aren’t human after all and can therefore be killed.
Again, the Athsheans seem to have avoided violence by not allowing anyone to model violence—rather than executing violent Athsheans, they remove them from society. Because humans have modeled violence, the Athsheans are now violent. Lyubov’s choice to frame this nonviolence as something that the Athsheans have sacrificed progress to gain therefore seems misguided. If anything, the Athsheans were previously able to progress past their violent instincts in a way that the humans can’t. Notably, Lyubov is wrong that the Athsheans are killing the humans because they don’t see them as men. Selver and Coro Mena decided that the colonists were men, which is why they know that killing them is wrong but necessary.
Themes
Lepennon is horrified to hear that the Athsheans were enslaved, but Colonel Dongh (Davidson’s superior) says that this is only Lyubov’s opinion, as the camp uses the Voluntary Autochthonous Labor Corps. Or asks how many of each race there are, and Gosse says there are 2,641 Terrans and three million natives. Or laughs, saying that the colonists should’ve considered this disparity in numbers. While Dongh insists that the camp can handle the natives, he does admit that he’d thought they were nonviolent. Or scoffs at this, saying that Dongh knew the natives were as human as any of them, and no human is harmless. Now angry, Dongh says that he doesn’t accept the notion that the Athsheans are human at all.
Because readers never learn what the Code states, it’s never clear whether or not Earth’s leaders intended to enslave the Athsheans or whether that was a decision the colonists made. This passage reintroduces the question of whether or not the Athsheans are human, and Or makes a new point, saying both that they are human and that all men are capable of violence. So far in the novel, this seems to be true—the only reason the Athsheans were previously nonviolent is because they chose to be, not because they were incapable of violence. Or’s point actually implies that by suggesting that the natives were harmless, Lyubov was (unintentionally) devaluing and underestimating them.
Themes
Or asks if Davidson considers the native people human, since he had sex with one. When no one answers Or’s question, he angrily tells them that they haven’t thought anything through. Yung then says that the reason the Shackleton is here at all is not just to drop off women but also to drop off an ansible, or transmitter, to Prestno (a nearby planet). Juju Sereng, an engineer, asks what that means. Since the Cetians invented ansibles, Or is the one to explain that the device instantly transmits messages over any distance. Yung says that messages used to take 54 years, and now there’s no time gap between worlds, which will make a true interstellar species possible.
Or is right that Davidson likely didn’t think through his decision to assault Selver’s wife—his motivations for doing so aren’t clear, but more than likely, it was a way for him to assert dominance. This passage also introduces the symbol of the ansible, which comes to represent the possibility of a genuinely civilized human race. The fact that no instant communication device existed before the ansible explains a lot about how this colony has operated, because the colonists weren’t answerable to anyone—no one on Earth would have been able to monitor what they were doing in real time.
Themes
Lepennon adds that, unbeknownst to the colonists, an interstellar organization known as the League of Worlds has existed for 18 years. He and Or are emissaries. Lyubov thinks that these men could be lying about the existence of this supergovernment, which is undoubtedly what the military staff will think. Sure enough, Dongh wonders whether they should take Or’s word for it, and Or says no. In fact, they’re going to give this colony the ansible that Prestno was supposed to have, since this colony has clearly censored their reports. Now, the colony can directly ask the Terran Administration for orders, which will prevent any future catastrophes. Lyubov is somewhat afraid, since it’s no longer clear who’s in charge on this planet.
Davidson’s distrust of the “humanoids” isn’t unique to him—even Lyubov questions Lepennon and Or’s motivations, which suggests that planetary nationalism is widespread. The fact that the colonists will now have the ansible, and the fact that the ansible represents oversight, suggests that the colony will be forced to act in a genuinely civilized manner. Based on Or and Lepennon’s reactions, it’s safe to assume that the Terran Administration wouldn’t be happy that the humans enslaved the Athsheans. Or clearly thinks that the ansible will help to hold the colonists accountable as they continue their work, even though nothing about the colony’s structure will change.
Themes
Lyubov stares at Lepennon, ruminating on the fact that civilization is easy for the Hainish, the same way it’s easy for the “little green men,” the Athsheans. An officer named Benton asks Lepennon if he and Or have authority here, and Lepennon says that no, the officers still answer to their government. Relieved, Dongh says that this means nothing is different now, but Or disagrees: the ansible makes things different. Yung applauds Or and Lepennon for deciding to give this colony the ansible. Yung also says that if the colonists feel that they’re in danger currently, Yung can leave the Shackleton for a week as defense and evacuate the women.
When Le Guin first wrote The Word for World is Forest, she titled it “Little Green Men,” which was a reference to how aliens are “othered” in science fiction. Lyubov’s suggestion that the “little green men” are actually more civilized than humans turns this idea on its head—Le Guin was clearly attempting to demonstrate that to the Athsheans, humans are the strange ones, given their propensity for violence. Again, Or thinks that the ansible will solve the colony’s problems, even though it doesn’t address their root causes.
Themes
Yung can take a few hundred passengers, but they need to head to Prestno. They’ll come back here on their way back to Terra, but that won’t be for three and a half years. He asks if the colony can last that long, and Dongh says yes. Or asks if the natives can last, and Lyubov, who has been observing Davidson with rising panic, interrupts to say no. Dongh speaks first, saying that the natives are doing well. The colonists may have been mistaken about the natives’ nature, but the colonists aren’t planning a counterattack—the Colonial Code forbids it—and the colony will remain self-sufficient. The women aren’t in danger, either.
Earlier in the meeting, Yung noted that the status of the colony was in flux. It’s not clear what that means in the long term, but it seems likely that nothing will substantially change until after the three years are up. This means that the disagreement between Lyubov and Dongh is significant: Dongh insists that the colony will continue to operate as is for three years. Even if the colonists don’t attack the Athsheans, that doesn’t mean they won’t affect their lives—the colonists will continue to log wood, which will be detrimental to the Athsheans’ given how closely intertwined their lives are with nature.
Themes
Lyubov argues that the native culture may not last through four more years of humans, and the humans have damaged the planet by logging. Gosse says that this is a leap. Yes, Dump Island was over-logged and is now lost, but he insists that the basic logging plan was based on an ecological study and it remains sound. Lyubov says that this is how they discussed Alaska in the First Famine, and Alaskan species are destroyed now. The forest ecology here is in danger, he claims, and since the Athsheans’ word for world is also their word for forest, any endangerment to the forest endangers the planet.
Gosse’s job as an ecologist is to look out for the planet’s wildlife, but unlike Kees Van Sten, he seems to take that wildlife for granted. Lyubov’s description of what happened to Alaska is important, because his reproach implies that it was human greed (rather than a natural disaster) that damaged the Alaskan ecosystem. Despite the fact that the humans have apparently damaged Earth beyond repair, Gosse refuses to learn from their mistakes and insists that the humans can take more from the Athsheans’ planet. Readers already knew that the Athsheans depended on nature, but this passage confirms that this dependency is embedded in all parts of their society. This includes their language, which has no way to describe the world without also describing nature (hence the title of the novella).
Themes
Dongh says that this isn’t Lyubov’s call to make, especially since it’s Lyubov’s fault that the colonists were vulnerable to attack. Lyubov just sits there, hoping that the infighting will make Or and Lepennon likelier to check in and put a stop to any wrongdoing that happens in their absence. Lyubov doesn’t mind losing self-respect as long as the Athsheans can survive, though he feels humiliated and self-sacrificial now. He can also tell that Davidson is watching him, which makes Lyubov scared: if the colonists are left with just the ansible, they’ll exterminate the Athsheans and claim it was plague. When the conference ends, Lyubov whispers to Lepennon that he has to tell the League to save the Athsheans. Lepennon meets his gaze but doesn’t respond.
Lyubov is putting himself on the line for the Athsheans, and it’s obvious that he’s sacrificing a lot: he has no allies, and the humans blame him for their vulnerability. While Lyubov is willingly giving up his place in human society to help the Athsheans, his humiliation suggests that this isn’t a decision he makes lightly. It also suggests that Lyubov doesn’t want to be isolated from everyone—he just thinks that what he’s doing is necessary. Earlier, Or claimed that the ansible would prevent the humans from mistreating the Athsheans, but Lyubov isn’t convinced, and this passage is the novella’s first hint that the ansible may not usher in a more civilized human society after all.
Themes
