Violence, War, and Colonization
The Word for World is Forest is set in a future in which Terra (planet Earth) has colonized various planets to mine their natural resources. On World 41, known to Terrans (Earth-based humans) as New Tahiti, the Terrans have enslaved native inhabitants called Athsheans and forced them to log wood. But eventually, the Athsheans—who were previously a nonviolent species—fight back against the colonists by destroying their weaponry and killing both men and women…
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Nature and Ecology
In The World for World is Forest, Terrans (Earth-based humans) have colonized various planets to exploit their natural resources. On World 41 (known as Athshe to its native population, the Athsheans), Terrans are logging the forests for wood to send back to Earth. Despite the fact that wood no longer exists on Terra (Earth), presumably due to over-logging, most of the humans on World 41—even the ecologists—believe that World 41’s natural resources are…
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Communication and Translation
Despite the fact that both the Terrans (Earth-based humans) and Athsheans are people, they speak different languages and have different customs. This means that most of the time, they can’t or won’t communicate. But two characters—the formerly enslaved Athshean Selver Thele and the Terran anthropologist Raj Lyubov—are able to share their cultures with each other and translate their respective languages. Later in the novella, Selver’s people declare that he’s a god, which in Athshean…
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Gender and Masculinity
Human society in The Word for World is Forest is male-dominated, as women are sent from Earth to planetary colonies solely to serve as sexual partners for men and to populate those planets with children. As a result, soldiers prize their masculinity above all else. In contrast, the Athshean society on World 41 (a planet that Terrans, humans from Earth, have colonized) is more balanced, as men act as decision-makers while women act as…
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