Ursula K. Le Guin, Consent, and Metaphor

165 Pages·2022·0.984 MB·English

by  Kate Sheckler

Ursula K. Le Guin,
Consent, and Metaphor
Copyright © 1995 by Ursula K. Le Guin. First appeared in FOUR WAYS TO
FORGIVNESS, published by Harper Prism. Reprinted by permission of Ginger Clark
Literary, LLC
Copyright © 1975 by Ursula K. Le Guin. First appeared in Science-Fiction Studies #7 in
1975, and then in THE LANGUAGE OF THE NIGHT, published by HarperCollins in
1992. Reprinted by permission of Ginger Clark Literary, LLC
From THE DISPOSSESSED by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copyright © 1974 by Ursula K. Le
Guin, renewed copyright © 2002. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
Excerpts from THE TELLING by Ursula Le Guin. Copyright © 2000 by Ursula
Le Guin. Reprinted by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins
Publishers.
Excerpt(s) from THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
by Ursula K. Le Guin. Copyright © 1969 by Ursula K. Le Guin. Used by permission of
Ace, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House
LLC. All rights reserved.
Ursula K. Le
Guin, Consent,
and Metaphor
Kate Sheckler
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Lexington Books
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2022 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any elec-
tronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages
in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sheckler, Kate, author.
Title: Ursula K. Le Guin, consent, and metaphor / Kate Sheckler.
Description: Lanham: Lexington Books, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021058478 (print) | LCCN 2021058479 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781666904871 (cloth) | ISBN 9781666904895 (paper) |
ISBN 9781666904888 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Le Guin, Ursula K., 1929–2018--Literary style. | Metaphor in literature.
| LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PS3562.E42 Z89 2022 (print) | LCC PS3562.E42 (ebook) | DDC
813/.54--dc23/eng/20220112
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021058478
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021058479
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Abbreviations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: With Respect to the Future 1
Chapter One: The Edge of the World: The Unknown as
Metaphor in The Left Hand of Darkness 27
Chapter Two: Only Means: Governance and Metaphor
in The Dispossessed 59
Chapter Three: My Sister, My Brother, My Other: The Alien
in The Eye of the Heron and Four Ways to Forgiveness 89
Chapter Four: Something from Nothing: Acts of Creation in
Le Guin’s The Telling 111
Conclusion: Risky Futures 133
Works Cited 137
Index 147
About the Author 153
v

List of Abbreviations
TD The Dispossessed
TEH The Eye of the Heron
FWF Four Ways to Forgiveness
LHD The Left Hand of Darkness
AMOP “A Man of the People”
OWWA “The One’s Who Walk Away from Omelas”
PoP “People of the Peace”
TT The Telling
WTQ The Wind’s Twelve Quarters
AWL “A Woman’s Liberation”
WFWF The Word for World is Forest
vii

Acknowledgments
Thanks to Professor Michael Sinatra for his constant support in the writing of
the original version of this book and to Professor Heike Harting for reminding
me to always double-check my thinking. As well, I would like to thank the
many librarians who helped in so many ways, in particular Matthew Flanagen
and Elaine Greer, who were so generous with their time and expertise. Finally,
I need to thank my very patient daughters, Abigail and Audrey Schafer.
ix