Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed

Ursula Le Guin’s science fiction novel The Dispossessed follows brilliant protagonist Shevek who attempts to alter the construct of the hierarchical capitalist society of Urras. At the beginning of the novel, Le Guin places the reader in the middle of the story set on the planet of Anarres. Through this, we can see that she is leaving a lot up for interpretation as her agenda follows the understanding of the political unrest and disturbances within the societies.

Le Guin begins by introducing us to the wall, she explains that it did not look important and that an adult could look right over it. The wall prohibits any character in either society from straying beyond its boundary and is the centerpiece of Le Guin’s plan of development. She notes that the importance of the wall is the idea of itself. “Like all walls, it was ambiguous, two-faced. What was inside it and what was outside it depended upon which side of it you were on” (Le Guin, 1). Through this LeGuin is highlighting the symbolic divide between the two planets and their differing political structures. On each side of the wall the people only know what they see to be true, they don’t understand the differing beliefs and worldview that divide them both. If one has never known

I believe by doing this Le Guin is highlighting the idea that we are trapped in what we believe to control us, while we may think one is better than another, in the end, it is up to the individual’s interpretation. Shevek realizes: “Those who build walls are their own prisoners” (Le Guin, 332). When we limit ourselves to what we know and trust we further deny ourselves from new understandings, overall imprisoning ourselves from growth and knowledge. And as Le Guin is making apparent, it is the political constructs that do so in this novel, but what furthers it is the perception that we are not capable of understanding the