Captain Davidson, the old Conquisatador

Going off of class discussion today, there was heavy criticism against Captain Davidson’s character for embodying ideas of patriarchy and old beliefs that the world revolves around humans (the world is made for the exploitation of humans) etc. There are valid reasons and support to attest to this, but I also found his character interesting and still having likeable traits. I suppose it is because of the way he is so transparent, how fervently set he is in his ways, and full of flaws...which makes him so human. It is engaging to dive into a character having traits of strength, patriotism and integrity, but is also so wrong in his thinking. He sees himself as a “...a world tamer. He wasn’t a boastful man, but he knew his own size” (15). He later describes himself as “a patriotic man” (32). In both examples, Ursula Le Guin ends with “it just happened to be the way he was made…” This illustrates Davidson's belief of a kind of inevitable destiny that he has. This could be applied to his overall view of humans being conquerors of land and other creatures: “it’s Man that wins, every time. The old Conquistador” (19). It seems to me that he is unembarrassingly aware of himself, and the nature and the roles that “humans” play within the worlds because that's just the way it is.

Le Guin’s choice of placing the readers in Captain Davidson’s perspective first was an effective because it allows the reader to not place any negative judgment on his character at first. The reader goes into the novel with expectations that the protagonist would be a relatable, neutral or well-intentioned character. Instead, we are forced to deal with a character we start to dislike more and more, which shows Le Guin’s skill for character development. I feel allowed like having the contrasts between perspectives developed the later characters (Selver and Lyubov) in the story more profoundly.

*page numbers are taken from the E-book version.