This text reminds me of Pocahontas. Strangers come onto the native's lands. These strangers, the yumen, steal resources, take up space, and enslave the indigenous people, the Athsheans. One of the natives incites a rebellion, and war between the indigenous people and the outsiders ensues. Unlike Pocahontas, these natives never understood the concept of war. Le Guin's novel presented an evolving use of ethos.
The Athsean culture mutated after being exposed to Davidson's slavery tactics. They no longer dream of purely peaceful things. Instead, they can dream of hate, death, and war. This shows the effect one being can have on an entire species psychologically. "There is no use pretending, now, that we do not know how to kill one another" (Le Guin 189).
Le Guin's use of imagery also struck me deeply. "That's the place you call Dump Island. Your people left no trees there, so you can't make a boat and sail from it. [...] No trees, no people" (Le Guin 181). What used to be full of forest and civilization is now nothing but plain, lifeless rock.
Post arguments, interpretive questions, or engaging responses concerning the week's texts.
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